New Cheese Stage: Students Travel South to Abruzzo to Study Typical Cheeses
Other Groups in Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto
The students of the University of Gastronomic Sciences degree course
will have a chance to see at first-hand what they’ve been learning
about in their Microbiology and Hygiene classes when they spend five
days on stage studying cheese production, from raw milk to final aging.
From April 3 – 7 five groups of approximately 14 students each
will be studying Asiago, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Grana Padano, Piedmontese
cheeses, and a new topic this year, the cheeses of Abruzzo.
The stage in Abruzzo, a mountainous region on the southern
Adriatic coast, will be based in and around the National Park of Gran
Sasso, and the Monti della Laga. Two cheeses in particular will be
studied, both Slow Food Presidia: Canestrato di Castel del Monte and
Pecorino di Farindola. Both are made with sheep’s milk, and among the
the themes covered will be the breeds of sheep native to Abruzzo.
Others include the history of the tradition of the transumanza, the
seasonal movement of livestock to mountain pastures, and the use of the
park’s name and logo in the marketing of local food products.
Further north, in the Veneto, one group will focus on just one cheese, Asiago. Based at the Veneto Agricoltura – Istituto per la Qualità e le Tecnologie Agroalimentari (Institute
of Food Quality and Technologies) in Thiene, near Vicenza, they will
have lessons from Veneto Agricoltura experts and staff from the Asiago
Consortium, covering topics such as breeds of milk cows, milking, the
microbiology of milk, and the use of natural and selected cultures, as
well as visiting a number of farms and cheese producers.
Perhaps the most famous of Italian cheeses, Parmigiano Reggiano,
will be the subject of another stage. Students will travel to Reggio
Emilia, where they will study in its native territory a cheese that has
been imitated around the world. Visits to different cheese producers
will help them understand the history of the cheese, the variations
possible in the production of Parmigiano and the importance of every
step of the cheese’s journey from the cow’s fodder up to the aging of
the forms. Also included is a visit to a cheese producer who uses the
milk from vacche rosse, the traditional red cows.
While staying in Sirmione, on the shores of Lake Garda, one group will spend the five days focussed on Grana Padano,
a hard cow’s milk cheese that is made throughout northern Italy. The
students will visit the headquarters of the Grana Padano Consortium in
Desenzano, where they will learn about the production of the DOP cheese
and the issues related to its marketing, with case studies of
promotional campaigns and an analysis of domestic and foreign markets.
The theoretical lessons will be complemented by visits to farms, cheese
producers and wineries.
The students on the Piedmontese cheeses stage will discover the
rich traditions of cheesemaking of this northern Italian region. The
stage will be held the Monregalese Valleys, at the Valcasotto aging
facility established by the producer Beppino Occelli. Particular
attention will be paid to the Alpine cheeses such as Raschera, Loza and
Verzin. following the chain of production from the raising of the
goats, sheep or cows and their foddering to the processing of the milk
and the aging of the cheese forms. Supplementary lectures will be held
on themes such as food and philosophy, biblical food references, and
the Slow Food philosophy of buono, pulito, giusto, (good, clean, fair).