How it was born: Branzi is the name of a small village in Upper Val Brembana, once the seat of important dairy and bovine markets. The fat cheese of Branzi was produced in the valleys of Carona and Foppolo. Later it was carried towards the cheese factories of Branzi, where it was kept ageing for a period of 40-50 days since it had to reach the right ageing and then be sold on the occasion of the cheese market that took place in the homonymous village. Once Branzi was a typical summer cheese, since it was produced in the summer alpine pastures using full-cream milk. Medium fat cheese was produced during the remaining part of the year, in the valley bottom; so it was possible to obtain the cream necessary for the production of butter, very valuable exchange goods in a rural economy that was extremely poor. In order to give productive continuity to its cheese, Branzi was supplied with the F.T.B. Branzi cheese trade-mark, which stands for D.O.C. production (controlled origin label area) guaranteeing the excellent quality of the product.

How it’s like: Branzi is a half-cooked paste cheese, made with full-cream cow’s milk. It’s cylindrical, with a diameter of about 40-45cm; the side surface (“scalzo”) is straight or a bit concave, 8-9cm high. It weighs about 10-12kg. The rind is smooth, thin and elastic, yellowish. The paste is soft, pale yellow. It has a slight regular punching. Its taste is sweet and delicate; it acquires strength and temper as the ageing process advances, until becoming sharp at the highest degree of maturation. Its taste is characteristic and recalls to taste and smelling the vegetable essences of the summer forages.

How it’s made: The production technique requires that milk should be curdled at a temperature of 35-37°C adding liquid calf rennet so that the curds could be obtained in 30-35 minutes. In the artisan processing curds are broken using a set of specific tools: skimmers, “spada” (a wooden rod) and “spino”. With “spino” you can obtain dairy lumps as big as rice grains. As the process of cooking is over, curds are brought to a temperature of about 45-46° C. During this phase the dairy paste must be constantly mixed up with “rotella” (a small wheel) or using electric mixers. When the cooking is over the dairy paste being processed is let rest so that the curd makes a deposit on the bottom of the “caldaia” (the large pot where cheese is processed); the curds are taken out with suitable cloths and then placed in wooden or synthetic resin “fasciere” (circular or square bands that press curds in order to make it expel the whey).Then there is the pressing and pickling (only rarely without water). The process of ageing occurs in fresh places (about 10°C) with a very high degree of relative moisture (about 90%). The phase of maturation can last from 60 days up to 6-7 months. If properly treated the cheese can be kept even for more than a year.

Production area: Upper Val Brembana, especially Val Carona, Val di Foppolo, San Simone; Branzi and the surroundings.