Including a Thesis Presentation on Vegetable-Rennet Cheese, From the Wild Cardoon to Caciofiore.
Cheese is often the subject of study and analysis in UNISG undergraduate theses, and on September 20, 2009, German student Janna Kuehne will present her original research paper, The Use of Wild Cardoons (Cynara Cardunculus) in Cheese Production. The work focuses on the vegetable-rennet cheese, Caciofiore della Campagna Romana, which is also a Slow Food Presidium.
Kuehne, who is 25 and has been enrolled at UNISG since 2006, will give her final thesis presentation at the end of September, just after Cheese. Kuehne was supervised by Luisa Torri, an UNISG professor and researcher, who oversaw evaluations within the university’s sensory analysis lab.
Two types of Caciofiore cheese were examined, one made with animal rennet and one with a vegetable-based coagulant extracted from the flowers of wild cardoons. The Caciofiore was made with raw sheep milk from Massimo Antonini’s Acquaranda farm. This research is notable because few studies have examined vegetable-rennet previously, despite its use in cheese production for over 2000 years (as documented by Lucio Giunio Moderato Columella in his treatise De Rustica from the year 50 A.D.).
The presentation will take place in Bra at 2:00 pm on Sunday, September 20, 2009, at the “Caffè Letterario e Musicale” within the courtyard of the Slow Food Editore offices at 45 via Mendicità Istruita. UNISG staff will give a brief introduction to the school, followed by Janna Kuehne and Luisa Torri, as well as a number of other UNISG students. Afterward, Dr. Alberto Capatti, professor of Food History, will take part in a discussion with French philosopher Michel Onfray.
Kuehne’s thesis is not the first to address cheese prodction. In past months other students have presented on the subject, including: Ottavia Cova, A Proposed and Tested Multimedia Documentation Model for the Typical Cheese Production of Valsesia; Michaela Von Lutz, Degust: The Art of Cheese. A Work Experience at Hansi Baum Gartner, Affineur; Marcella Bianco, Traditional Food Preservation Methods: Two Case Studies on Eggs and Cheese; Elisabetta Cane, Monasteries and Food Production: An Analysis of Three Cases in the Province of Cuneo; Martina Macconi, Caterina Spaggiare, and Fabio Donati, A Survey of Dairy Businesses: Multicriteria Analysis and Evaluation.
The University of Gastronomic Sciences will also be on hand during Cheese at a booth in Piazza XX Settembre, where visitors can meet staff, teachers, and students. As well, the Pollenzo campus will host visits at the following times:
Sept. 18 — 10:00 to 12:00 and 2:00 to 4:00
Sept. 19 & 20 — 11:00 to 4:00
Sept. 21 — 10:00 to 12:00 and 2:00 to 4:00