TALEGGIO DOP

DESCRIPTION, HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS OF DOP
Taleggio is a cheese of very ancient origins, documents dating back to 1200 refer to the trade and exchanges it underwent, together with other cheeses. The area of origin was born from Val Taleggio and Valsassina. The valley dwellers, having the need to conserve milk in excess of direct consumption, began to produce cheese which, once ripened in “caves” or valley cheese houses, could be exchanged with other products or marketed. As the consumption of Taleggio grew more and more, production progressively extended to the Po Valley, where many small and medium-sized dairies began to operate, managing to balance traditional production technology with the technological innovations that have followed one another over almost a thousand years of history. The production of Taleggio, which was initially seasonal, now takes place throughout the year, and not only in the mountains where this cheese was born, but also in numerous artisan structures or in large dairies on the plains. Characteristics Taleggio DOP is a soft table cheese produced with cow’s milk. The production, maturing and portioning area of the cheese which benefits from the “Taleggio” DOP includes the entire territory of the Provinces in Lombardy, Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Lecco, Cremona, Milan, Lodi, Monza and Brianza, Pavia, in Piedmont of Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, and in Veneto of Treviso. The milk used must come exclusively from these production areas. The shape of Taleggio Dop cheese presents itself as a quadrangular parallelepiped shape with flat faces with sides of 18-20 cm, a straight heel of 4-7 centimeters with slight variations in relation to the technical production conditions and a weight varying from 1.5 kg. to 2.5 kg. detectable at the end of the minimum maturation time of 35 days. As regards the height of the heel, a tolerance is allowed equal to +/- 10% on the maximum and minimum values. The rind is thin in thickness, soft in texture, natural pink in color (L ≤ 77 a/b ≥ 0.2 by tristimulus colorimeter), with the presence of microflora characteristic. No treatment of the crust other than with water and salt is permitted. Paste: united structure, absent holes with some very small eyes irregularly distributed; generally compact consistency, softer in the part immediately under the rind. The color of the paste is from white to straw yellow. The flavor is characteristic, sweet, aromatic with a balanced flavor, lactic notes and a truffle aftertaste are perceived on the palate. Chemical characteristics: fat on dry matter minimum 48%; minimum dry extract 46%; maximum water content 54%, furosine max 14mg/100g protein. The product cannot be released for consumption if frozen or previously frozen. Storage Taleggio keeps excellently for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator, between 2°C and 6°C depending on the degree of ripeness; it is advisable to wrap it in a damp cloth to maintain the softness of the crust. In any case, packaging must be used that allows air to pass through. Therefore, do not wrap it in plastic films, which prevent the passage of air and cause fermentation.