Montebore Piedmontese Slow Food Presidium small form

Montebore Piedmontese Slow Food Presidium small form

The Piedmontese Montébore of the Vallenostra Agricultural Cooperative is a true delicacy! It is a truly unique cheese that has managed to survive the passage of centuries and overcome difficult moments during which it risked extinction.

This cheese takes its name from the homonymous village, a fraction of the municipality of Dernice, in the Val Curone in the province of Alessandria, a watershed between the valleys of Grue and Borbera, where it has been produced for centuries. It is made using a mixture of raw cow's milk (75%) and sheep's milk (25%), an element that gives it a unique and unmistakable flavor.

Its curious shape, which resembles a classic multi-tiered wedding cake, is thought to have been created inspired by the ancient ruined tower located in the castle of Montébore and is generally made by stacking three robiole with decreasing diameters.
 

The Montébore: its history

Cheese with a centuries-old history, it is believed that its origins date back to the Low Middle Ages, more precisely in the 9th century, and that they are linked to the dairy art mastered with great skill by the monks of the Benedictine abbey of Santa Maria di Vendersi located on Mount Giarolo.

However, the production of the Piedmontese Montébore suddenly ceased in the post-World War II era, a period that saw a massive emigration from the valleys to the cities, a phenomenon that risked causing the loss of all those peasant traditions that had long been emblematic of the identity of an entire territory.

Only in more recent times, specifically in 1999, Maurizio Fava, responsible for the local Slow Food Presidio, managed to trace back Carolina Bracco, the last custodian of the recipe and traditional dairy technique, and to restore the Montébore to its former glory, giving new life to its production.

Montebore Piedmontese Slow Food Presidium small form: How is it produced

Società Cooperativa Agricola Vallenostra, Piedmont

Ingredients Montebore Piedmontese Slow Food Presidium small form

Raw cow and sheep milk (Italy origin), salt, rennet, lactic ferments.
It may also contain small percentages of raw goat milk.

Nutritional values

Valori nutrizionali medi per 100g
Energia 361 kcal/1511 KJ
Grassi 28,97g di cui saturi 17,9g
Carboidrati 0,03g di cui zuccheri 0,03g
Proteine 22,7g
Sali 1,12g
Ceneri 2,28g