MURAZZANO
PDO

$13.99

One of the oldest cheeses of Piedmont.

In Murazzano, home of the Langa sheep, you can taste a cheese so exquisite that even the devil tried to take it with him to hell, transforming himself into a crow to steal it, but a brave young man recognised him and threw him into a well.

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Description

Murazzano PDO is the oldest of the Robiola cheeses from Piedmont. There are numerous legends surrounding its origins, but historically this cheese dates back to Celtic times and is believed to be descended from the Asti cheeses described by Pliny the Elder. The name originates from the area of major production, located precisely in the municipality of Murazzano. This cheese was once made exclusively from sheep’s milk.

Today, only very small quantities of this type, the most prestigious, are made. Its production once involved the women of the Alta Langa who would travel to Murazzano on market day to sell the cheese to shopkeepers who would then, in turn, take it to shops in the towns on the plains, as far as Turin. The history of this foodstuff is closely linked to that of the women of the province of Cuneo, who took care of the sheep, milking and production.

The specific qualities of the milk obtained from the native “Langhe sheep” breed, combined with the aromatic variety of the grasses on which the animals graze, give Murazzano PDO unique sensory properties, such as its delicate aroma and fine taste.

Characteristics

The “Murazzano” designation of origin is reserved for cheese with the following characteristics: fresh, full-fat cheese, made with pure Langhe breed sheep’s milk or with a combination of a minimum 60% sheep’s milk and a maximum 40% cow’s milk. As regards its technical characteristics, it has a cylindrical shape with flat, slightly ribbed faces, a diameter of 10-15 centimetres and a heel of 3-4 centimetres, weighing between 250 and 400 grams. The paste is milky white in colour with a soft consistency and fine grain, possibly with some holes. The cheese has no rind, the skin of fresh wheels is milky white. It has a fine, delicately aromatic flavour which tends to intensify as it matures, becoming fuller with spicy notes.

The territory

It is said that if you want to get to know the Langa you must enter a different, wilder world: the Alta Langa area. In Mombarcaro, on a clear morning, you can actually see the sea. In Bossolasco, Serravalle, Somano you will smell the scent of roses mixed with that of the burnt leaves of the hazelnut groves. You will find yourself in a proud land which, thanks to the partisan war, succeeded in resisting the Germans. You will discover the magical Langa of Paroldo, with its legends about masche, commonly known as witches. On the crest of these high hills that can exceed 800 metres in altitude, you will see a land of rural poverty, but also a happy oasis rich in botanical treasures. With a climate that is mild in winter and cool in summer, alpine flora coexists here in harmony with Mediterranean flora and when the sheep go to pasture, a rich feast of grass and flowers, capable of transmitting to the milk the fragrances that make Murazzano unique, awaits them. Murazzano is much more than just a cheese. It’s a cultural trait that has always distinguished the people of these hills and united them in that unique flavour in the fifty municipalities of the designation.

How it is made

The milk, which comes from two or more milking sessions, may undergo heat treatments and possibly be inoculated with milk enzymes and/or natural starter cultures. Liquid rennet is then added and coagulation takes place at a temperature of 37°C, with a tolerance of ± 3°C. During and after the addition of the rennet, the milk is stirred vigorously and may then be left to rest for at least forty minutes in order to obtain an even and consistent curd. The first breaking of the curd, with a spannarola or spino, is coarse (curds the size of an orange). After a pause of at least five minutes, the second curd is broken into a hazelnut shape using a lira or spino, followed by a further pause of at least ten minutes. Then the curd is transferred into cylindrical, perforated-bottomed plastic or stainless steel moulds of suitable size. The moulds containing the curd are kept on an inclined surface for twenty-four + four hours, during which they are turned several times. Salting is carried out twice during moulding, once on each side. The ripening process lasts for at least four days and may take place in the same production premises, washing the cheeses quickly with lukewarm water at least twice. After at least four days of ripening, the cheese can be stored in special maturing rooms or in cooling cells.

Maturing

The minimum ripening period is four days, the maximum period is ninety days.
Only when placing the cheese in traditional “burnie” (hermetically sealed glass jars), after ripening for at least twenty days, is it allowed to mature for up to fifteen months, without the addition of other products.

Consortium for the Protection of Murazzano Pdo

Established in 1996, the Consortium for the Protection of Murazzano PDO cheese was responsible for codifying the production specifications of the famous Tuma di Langa. The consortium is based in Bossolasco and promotes and enhances this historic Piedmontese cheese, which is becoming more and more unique due to the rarity of the Langa sheep, of which there were more than forty thousand in the 1960s, that number now having dropped to just two thousand.

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