Typical Stracchino

Once, Stracchino used to be made in the autumn from the milk of cows that were exhausted (stracca means “tired” in the local dialect) after walking for many hours from their summer pastures to the flatlands. According to another version, it was not the animals that were weary, but the milk they gave on the water-meadows of the Lombardy plains. Raw milk is coagulated with liquid calf’s rennet at 30°C for about half an hour and the curd cut into slices of varying thicknesses. It is lifted out with cloths, drained and put into moulds, where it stays for a few days. The rounds are ripened on rush matting and are dry-salted. After a few days, the cheese is ready to be eaten. The fresh, creamy Straness version is eaten as soon as it is made while Stracchino dei Campelli is eaten after 15 to 20 days’ ageing to bring out its special aroma, enhanced by the rhododendron flowers among which it matures. It has a melt-in-the-mouth texture and a sweet flavour with aromatic notes. It features an uniform, buttery body with no eyesand white or pale yellow in colour, wrapped by a barely discernible skin. Its top and bottom are flat, circular or rectangular, 20-25 cm long and 5 cm high. It was originally produced throughout Lombardy, but the production area is now much more limited. Stracchino di Nesso from the province of Como and Stracchino della Valle dei Campelli from the province of Bergamo are particularly well-known.