When we hear talk of alpine pastures, of “malghe” (alpages), of grazing milk, we always raise our interest. And Lessinia, in the upper Verona area, is one of those areas where there is still a certain presence of mountain pastures and malghe. We therefore add to our assortment another producer from the area, the Caseificio Dalla Valentina situated in Velo Veronese (Verona), which has been able to valorise the milk collected daily from the alpine pastures of the Lessinia Park, creating the “10 malghe” project. This project motivated us to visit Franco and Ezio at the end of May, the brothers representing the third generation of Caseificio Dalla Valentina, also known as Caseificio Achille, named after the company's founder.
The ascent from the motorway exit to the dairy gave us a taste of the area: gentle mountains made of soft slopes of volcanic origin, shaped by time. Plenty of land good for 'grazing' already at 900-1000 m, and we can only imagine what there is at higher altitudes! Just think that 137 different spontaneous herbs have been catalogued on Lessinia's pastures, which is an indication of the botanical treasure available.
The structure of the dairy is solid and sturdy, and was built on the input of the third generation who had a clear idea of what the future of the company could be. Today, they process 30 tons of milk per day (not only from the alpine dairy, of course) from 22 milk producers. 

They do the daily milk collection rounds, 60 km a day that become 120 in the summer months when there is milk to be collected from the malga. They produce two DOP cheeses, as well as several equally interesting ones from which we have selected the ones we are presenting today.

“10 MALGHE” · ALPAGE MILK
This is a collection of cheeses produced only from the beginning of June to the end of September with summer milk collected from 10 mountain cottages located between 1300 and 1600 m above sea level in the Lessinia Park. The milk is thermised at 62°C and transformed into 4 references: a small caciotta, a fresh tomme, a semi-aged (6 months minimum) and an aged (12 months minimum) cheeses, that reach aging at different times: today we present the two youngest cheeses.

Caciotta d’Alpeggio
A small tomme of about 700 grams matured more or less ten days. The thin rind is already beautifully yellow, smooth and free of mould. Be careful, however: the rind is not edible because it has been treated with anti-mould! The paste is smooth and has a straw-yellow colour, the consistency is buttery. In the mouth, it is sweet and moderately delicate, with lactic notes of cooked butter and a slight floral reflection. 
10 Malghe fresco
Semi-cooked paste cheese aged about one month, with an average weight of about 9 kg. Only summer alpine milk is used, thermised at 62°C in the cheese factory. The rind is slightly wrinkled and deep yellow in colour, not edible due to the presence of anti-mould treatment. Inside, the paste is unctuous, pale straw yellow in colour. The partridge-eye eyes are fairly evenly distributed and well express a style of mountain cheese that is so popular in the “Triveneto” region (Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia). In the mouth, the spicy notes of saffron, already evident in such a young cheese, are surprising. The meltiness and sweetness are very pleasant, accompanied by notes of pastureland that become more and more marked as the cheese matures.

AND ALSO... VALLEY MILK
In addition to the '10 Malghe' summer project, Caseificio Dalla Valentina processes milk from around 20 local farms all year round, with which it produces a range of cheeses available all year round from valley milk. We have chosen three of them.

Tenerella
A cheese with a slightly bloomy rind weighing a couple of kilos and with a unctuous paste, it is matured for about 20 days. It is an interesting cheese both to be eaten as it is and to use in recipes due to its simplicity and ductility. The white paste has some eye formations and tends to proteolysing in the undercrust.
The flavour is sweet, with lactic notes of yoghurt and lemon peel.

Cimbretto
 An original cheese with semi-cooked paste and thermised milk of about 2.5 kg, with a “canestrato” rind (the term comes from the “canestro”, basket in which the cheese is preserved) and kid rennet, very deeply rooted in the Verona area, and even though it looks like a pecorino, it is made with 100 % cow's milk! It stands out among classic productions from Veneto, as it is an absolutely original cheese that deserves to be tasted. The paste is semi-hard by virtue of a minimum maturation period of 6 months. The flavour recalls notes of cellar, toasted and fermented fruit.

Alpino
Thermized milk cheese weighing about 5 kg, ripened for at least 180 days: it has a medium-hard, well-dried cheese paste, with small, sparse eyes. A mild cheese, with just a hint of flavour. Seducing on the palate, with notes of dried fruit and cooked butter. It is positioned somewhere between a fresh latteria cheese and a semi-aged.