Typical soft table cheese with ancient origins. Considered by farmers of the hills overlooking lakes Endine and Iseo as the traditional product par excellence, it continues to be handcrafted even today, despite the onset of advanced techniques and technical measures dictated by the most recent EU legislation.
Production and storage
Processing begins immediately after milking. The subsequent curdling takes place at a temperature between 37 and 38° C, after about thirty minutes from milking. When the curd is ready it is firstly roughly broken with a skimmer, so that the upper layers are mixed with the lower ones, and the temperature and the fat are evenly distributed. After 10 minutes, the curds are cut again and are allowed to rest at the bottom of the container. They are subsequently picked up in suitable cloths and transferred into square-shaped wooden moulds.
Maturation takes place in a cool environment (6-10° C) and with a humidity of 90 %. In this stage, normally, stracchino is turned and cleaned with a cloth soaked in brine solution that acts as an antiseptic to prevent mould growth. This seasoning covers a period of up to 20 days, after which the cheese is ready.
Organoleptic properties
The cheese has a rectangular shape with a length between 18 and 20 cm and a height between 3 and 4 cm, weighing 1.5 to 2.2 kg. The rind is soft, thin and pink, the paste white, smooth, soft and melting, pale yellow under the rind. The flavour is sweet, slightly sour; the perfume is typical of milk and cream with a distinctive aroma.