Castelmagno is a cheese with Protected designation of origin

Protected designation of origin

Protected Geographical Status is a legal framework defined in European Union law to protect the names of regional foods. Protected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are distinct regimes of geographical indications within the framework...

 status from the north-west Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region Piedmont

Piedmont

Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...

.

Historical notes

Castelmagno is a cheese which has been made for many centuries: the earliest known mention of it dates to 1277, but in all likelihood its origins are much earlier.

Zone of production

The cheese has traditionally been made in the Valle Grana

Valle Grana

thumb|280px|Location of the Valle Grana in Piedmont.The Valle Grana is a valley in the province of Cuneo, Piedmont, northern Italy, run by the Grana stream. It is located between the Val Maira from the north and the Valle Stura di Demonte on the south...

 in the south-west of the Province of Cuneo

Province of Cuneo

ayr is a province in the southwest of the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west it borders on the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ....

, where production is permitted today within the boundaries of the communes of Castelmagno

Castelmagno

Castelmagno is a small comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about 80 km southwest of Turin and about 25 km west of Cuneo....

, Pradleves

Pradleves

Pradleves is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 km southwest of Turin and about 20 km west of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 306 and an area of 19.2 km²....

 and Monterosso Grana

Monterosso Grana

Monterosso Grana is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 km southwest of Turin and about 20 km west of Cuneo...

.

Process of production

Castelmagno is a semi-hard, half-fat cheese produced from whole cows milk, obtained from cattle of the Piedmontese breed fed on fresh forage or hay from mixed meadows or pasture. On occasion some milk from sheep or goats may may be added to the cows’ milk.

Uses

Aside from being eaten on its own Castelmagno can be part of countless recipes, such as in fondue

Fondue

Fondue is a Swiss dish of melted cheese served in a communal pot over a spirit lamp , and eaten by dipping long-stemmed forks with bread into the cheese...

 or veloutees and can be eaten along with rice, pasta, polenta, thinly sliced raw beef meat (carpaccio

Carpaccio

Carpaccio is a dish of raw meat or fish , thinly sliced or pounded thin and served as an appetizer.- History :...

) or grilled vegetables.

External links

• Disciplinare di produzione