Best Valtellina Cheese Types
Certainly the finest and most well-known cheese of Valtellina valley, Bitto is a semi-hard or hard cheese, sold after it has been aged anywhere from 40 days to 3 years. The ancient production technique of this iconic Lombardian cheese dates back to the Celts, who were expert shepherds and dairymen.
Having been forced off the plains by the Romans, they found refuge in the mountainous region of Valtellina. Bitto is made from cow's milk with the addition of 10-20% of goat's milk. Young bitto is called giovane and it is soft in texture, white in color, and has a sweet flavor, similar to Gruyère.
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VARIATIONS OF Bitto
The origins of this Lombardian cheese can be traced back to the 1500s when the first cooperative dairies appeared in Valtellina valley. Derived from Latin words for cheese (caseus or casei), the word Casera was used to denote a cellar where cheeses were stored for ripening.
Traditionally, the milk collected in the evening was first left to rest and then partially skimmed the next morning in order to make butter, while the milk obtained in the morning was added whole. Valtellina Casera is a semi-hard or hard cheese with a straw-colored rind, slightly rough to the touch, with a white to pale yellow paste.
Storico Ribelle is a traditional type of Italian Bitto cheese originating from the Valgerola area of Valtellina. The cheese is made from a mixture of raw cow's and Orobic goat's milk and it's left to age for a minimum of 70 days. However, some wheels are left to age for over 10 years.
The cheese is produced in summer months and the cattle and goats feed on mountain pastures, which is why the milk is rich and the cheese has unique organoleptic characteristics. The texture is hard and dry with very fine eyes. The aromas are grassy, floral, and milky, while the flavors are rich and intense.
Scimudin, meaning little cheese in local dialect, is a fresh, shortly aged, buttery, brie-style cheese produced in the province of Sondrio. Once made with pure goat’s milk (since goats were very common in the area), nowadays it is more often made with mixed or pure cow's milk.
Scimudin indeed is a small cheese, it is only about 16-22 cm in diameter and some 3-5 cm in height, but a larger version called Scimud or Scimuda also exists. The white rind hides a luscious, silky, smooth pate with a slightly nutty flavor.
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