PDO - Guffanti formaggi, Affinatori dal 1876

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Spressa delle Giudicarie DOP

Spressa delle Giudicarie DOP

A close relation of the Veneto or Lombardy ‘Latteria’ cheeses. The name derives from the pressing of the forms (in the Ladin speaking valleys ‘spretz’ can stand for ‘cheese’ alone). In the past, this was an almost fat-free cheese although, today, this is less so. It was awarded denomination of protected origin (DOP) status at the end of 2003 and production began in early March 2004. The most significant characteristics required by the DOP status are that the cows are fed exclusively with hay, the cream should rise naturally in the containers rather than through churning and the use of small, one thousand litre cauldrons similar to those used for Grana.

Gorgonzola DOP Piccante

Gorgonzola DOP Piccante

According to legend, Gorgonzola was invented by a lovesick cheese maker who, in his haste to meet his lover, forgot the curd in a cauldron over night only to mix it up on the following morning. The resulting cheese, given that the more acid paste from the previous evening would not amalgamate perfectly with the morning’s paste, had a wealth of folds and crannies which encouraged the development of moulds inside the cheese as it ripened. The outcome, however, was a pleasant change and the method was subsequently repeated deliberately. In effect, the method of working with a ‘double paste’, mixing the evening’s curd with that of the morning, has been used for many years in the production of Gorgonzola. Another characteristic of the production methods of this cheese that was awarded denomination of protection origin (DOP) status in 1955, is its ‘baking’ – the placing of the fresh cheeses in a heated room to favour the expulsion of the serum – and its piercing with needles to encourage the development of penicillin. The Piccante version should be distinguished from the better known Sweet Gorgonzola, which is soft and creamy, as the former, traditional, version has a firmer paste with less serum content due to a longer ‘baking’ period.

Castelmagno DOP di Alpeggio

Castelmagno DOP di Alpeggio

Produced exclusively in the limited area of the Val Grana which comprises the three municipalities of Castelmagno, Pradleves and Monterosso Grana. Its DOC status was awarded in 1982. The alpine pasture production is limited to one single cheese maker. There are innumerable imitations in the surrounding villages and valleys which frequently bear names alluding or similar to ‘Castelmagno’. Unfortunately, the current trend is to retail it whilst still very fresh and not marbled although it is only after a correct ageing of at least six months that this wonderful cheese truly reveals its exceptional qualities.

Salva Cremasco DOP

Salva Cremasco DOP

A member of the same family as ‘Quartirolo’, this cheese is ripened for much longer periods. The name derives from the fact that it was once produced to ‘save’ (salvare) excess milk – in particular that already used for extracting the cream in order to make butter – from the animals feeding in the rich water meadows in southern Lombardy.

Gorgonzola DOP Piccante

Gorgonzola DOP Piccante

This is a Gorgonzola DOP Piccante ripened and "breeded" for a long period in the Luigi Guffanti caves and has a greater degree of blue marbling and a much more intense bouquet of aromas. The prolonged ripening period (more common in the past than now) makes the paste more compact and greatly enhances both the flavour and the aromas resulting from the penicillin. The aromas developed are very deep and elegants. For connoisseurs of truly great cheese.

TALEGGIO DOP A LATTE CRUDO

TALEGGIO DOP A LATTE CRUDO

Soft cheese from ancient origins whose name derives from the homonymous Bergamo valley where it was born and where it is still produced today, salted by hand and seasoned in pine crates

Roccaverano DOP

Roccaverano DOP

Until 2023, in the area around the Piedmontese municipality of Roccaverano, in the Langhe region, a mixed goat's milk (50% minimum)-wine-dairy robiola was also produced, the only one available in the winter months, when the goat almost ceases milk production: a version accepted by the specifications and which went with the more traditional, although both held the PDO, 100% goat's milk version. Since 2023, the PDO has only been allowed for 'Roccaverano DOP' (100% goat's milk). It is also eaten fresh, but its flavour is enhanced by a maturing process that can exceed one month.

Fiore Sardo DOP

Fiore Sardo DOP

One of the three denomination of protected origin (DOP) Sardinian sheep cheeses, Flower has a traditionally arched ‘mule back’ form and a rind covered with an emulsion of olive oil with wine vinegar and table salt. Its name derives from the, now abandoned, but traditional use of a wild thistle flower as rennet. It can be smoked during the curing process, using smoke obtained from typical arboreal from Sardinia.

Formaggella del Luinese DOP

Formaggella del Luinese DOP

La produzione di formaggi di capra nelle valli montane che sovrastano Luino (città del lago Maggiore in provincia di Varese, nei pressi del confine svizzero) è già menzionata in documenti del XVI secolo: l’allevamento della capra è anche conseguenza della conformazione dei pascoli locali, di norma alquanto scoscesi. Oggi la Formaggella del luinese si produce in una settantina di Comuni perlopiù montani dell’alto varesotto, seguendo metodi di lavorazione tradizionali. Le principali specie caprine dalle quali si ricava sono la “Camosciata delle Alpi”, la “Saanen” e la “Nera di Verzasca”.

Raschera DOP

Raschera DOP

Raschera is the name of an alpine hut in the municipality of Magliano Alpi in the province of Cuneo. Raschera cheese is normally square because, in the past, its shape made it easier to be stacked in the saddle-packs of the mules used to carry it down to the valley. As happens with another Piedmont cheese, Sora, the external form bears the marks of the canvas used to wring it after it has curdled. The alpine hut cheeses can be distinguished by the letter ‘a’ inserted in the ‘r’ of the brand.

Canestrato Pugliese DOP

Canestrato Pugliese DOP

The name of this cheese derives from the fact that the forms are dried in basket (canestro) shaped containers, the signs of which are impressed on the product. A similar method for producing sheep’s cheese was described in the Odyssey.

Doc e Dop

Doc e Dop

A partire dall’ultimo dopoguerra molte nazioni europee hanno introdotto normative per tutelare dalle contraffazioni e dalle imitazioni i propri prodotti alimentari tradizionali. In Italia nel settore caseario le prime Denominazioni di origine controllata (Doc) furono assegnate nel 1955 in base a una legge elaborata l’anno precedente (n. 125/54), prima ancora che una normativa analoga fosse studiata per i vini. Ma già nel 1951 la Conferenza di Stresa, con un documento firmato da otto nazioni europee, tra cui l’Italia, aveva riconosciuto l’esistenza delle denominazioni di origine. La Doc prevedeva la produzione solo all’interno di un territorio ben delimitato secondo tecniche stabilite da una normativa detta «disciplinare» (ovviamente deve trattarsi di tecniche che appartengano alla storia di quel formaggio e di quel territorio). A metà degli anni Novanta I’Unione europea ha reso operativa la Denominazione di origine protetta (Dop), approvata nel 1992 e studiata anch’essa per tutelare i prodotti tradizionali la cui lavorazione sia interamente effettuata all’interno di un comprensorio specifico (non per nulla la denominazione contiene in genere un’indicazione geografica). La Dop, estesa non solo all’Unione europea ma anche ai paesi che hanno stretto accordi commerciali con essa, ha sostituito la vecchia Doc. La Dop è stata finora assegnata (ma il numero è in continua evoluzione) a 47 formaggi italiani, trasformando in Dop le Doc precedenti al 1996: dopo questa data è direttamente assegnata come Dop. Per maggiori informazioni sui formaggi italiani DOP: https://www.politicheagricole.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/7469

Ragusano DOP

Ragusano DOP

In Sicily, the cheese traditionally takes the form of parallelepido: to be the DOP Ragusano needs to be made with milk from cows Modicana (which has become rather rare and almost extinct) fed with grass or hay, or, in the case where milk comes from cows of other breeds, took the name of "Cosacavaddu rausanu." The pastures of origin are those Ibleo poor but characterized by a great variety of wild flowers and herbs. Cheese, of Serbia, is tied to a rope in pairs, to allow air forms in the best way possible, and hung from a beam as with the cheese round. During maturation, the wheels are greased with oil mixed with vinegar. For the size of its forms processing requires great dexterity on the part of the cheese using traditional tools and techniques.

Caciocavallo Silano DOP

Caciocavallo Silano DOP

Within the vast and somewhat generic production of ‘Caciocavallo’ or ‘Provoloni’ in southern Italy, the Silano variety represents a denomination of protected origin product since 1993. Despite its name, it is not exclusively produced on the Sila but in five other regions of southern Italy or, rather, in the districts carefully specified by the regulations. An important characteristic of Silano Caciocavallo is the handmade paste that results in perfect softness whilst, in contrast, machine made paste tends to be ‘rubbery’.

OSSOLANO DOP

OSSOLANO DOP

A typical cheese from the Verbano Cusio Ossola Province which has been granted Protected Designation of Origin status: OSSOLANO DOP (PDO). The production area of Ossolano PDO covers 38 municipalities in the Verbano Cusio Ossola Province. Ossolano PDO cheese is made exclusively from whole cow's milk from two to four successive milkings in the period from 1 January to 31 December each year. Ossolano d'Alpe' PDO cheese is obtained exclusively from whole cows' milk from one to two successive milkings, during the period from 1 June to 30 September each year, and is made from milk produced and cheesed in mountain pastures located in the same defined area, at altitudes of not less than 1 400 metres above sea level. Ossolano PDO has a minimum maturing period of 60 days.

Quartirolo Lombardo DOP

Quartirolo Lombardo DOP

‘Quartirolo’ literally means ‘made with the fourth grass’ – grass grown after the third hay cutting at the beginning of the autumn. Quartirolo was awarded with denomination of protected origin (DOP) status in 1993 and is a close relation of ‘Taleggio’ and the differences between the two cheeses are mainly due to the skimming of the milk. The Quartirolo version that is currently called ‘mature’ is ripened for at least 40 days and its appearance is very similar to Taleggio. However, today, the fresh or ‘soft paste’ version is better known to the public due to its low fat content.

Bitto DOP

Bitto DOP

Although it is currently eaten fresh, the Bitto (the name of one of the streams running through the Valtellina) was traditionally a ripened cheese that could resist intact for up to ten years. It is an exclusively alpine pasture cheese

Sbrinz AOP

Sbrinz AOP

The oldest Swiss extra-hard cheese has been produced in the central Swiss cantons for five centuries. As early as 1530, traders were transporting Sbrinz cheeses by mule from Brienz, via Meiringen and over the Grimsel and Gries passes, exchanging them for salt and wine. It was a good bargaining chip because under the hard rind of a 35-kilo cheese, a rich aroma is revealed, as varied as the green Alpine pastures from the aromatic herbs. An incomparable 'extra touch' is found in its fabulously tender and crumbly texture. Sbrinz is made from fresh raw cow's milk. After a long salt bath, the cheeses are placed in a so-called 'exudation chamber', where they exude fat and water at a temperature of 18°C. Their rinds are carefully cleaned at regular intervals. After a maturing and ripening period of at least 16 months, the Sbrinz acquires a particularly crumbly, easily digestible consistency.

PUZZONE DI MOENA DOP

PUZZONE DI MOENA DOP

The name of this cheese derives from its very strong aroma. It is ripened in caves with a high level of humidity which increases the fermentation of the paste. However, the Ladin name ‘Spretz Tzaorì’, meaning ‘tasty cheese’, is used as well as the name ‘Moena Stinker’. It belongs to one of the numerous families of Trento cheeses, ‘nostrani di casello’. The name of this cheese derives from its very strong aroma. It is ripened in caves with a high level of humidity which increases the fermentation of the paste. However, the Ladin name ‘Spretz Tzaorì’, meaning ‘tasty cheese’, was used as well as the name ‘Moena Stinker’. By September 2014 acquired the protected designation of origin both for Alpine production (malga) and for winter production. It belongs to one of the numerous families of Trento cheeses, ‘nostrani di casello’.

Piacentinu Ennese DOP

Piacentinu Ennese DOP

The significance of this cheese’s name is much debated. According to some, ‘Piacentinu’ means ‘cheese that pleases (piace)’, whilst others claim it means ‘cheese that weeps (piange)’ due to the fact that drops of serum are sometimes present in the fresh forms. It could also mean a cheese ‘to be ripened’ like the northern Italy hard cheeses, since ‘piacentino’ was the traditional name given those cheeses. In fact, although the current trend is to eat it fresh, Piacentinu Ennese is well adapted to a lengthy ripening process. Its most obvious characteristic is the abundant addition of wild saffron to the curd, giving it a unique colour and flavour. The sheep used for its production feed mainly on vetch, a leguminous plant, which confers its own distinctive flavour to the milk.

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