Montébore cheese
Montébore cheese, one of the oldest and rarest cheeses in the world, is produced, as per tradition, with raw milk: 75% cow’s milk and the remaining 25% sheep, from dairy breeds raised on pasture in the area, therefore guarantee quality.
The specification also admits its use
of a share of goat’s milk up to 5%.
Its unique feature in the world is the layered shape, a shape created with the superimposition of three molds of different diameters which, following the drying of the pasta, are welded together.
Montébore can be tasted after 20 days. In this case we will have a soft cheese with a delicate and sweet taste. Continuing with the aging, the spicy notes given by the sheep’s milk will be enhanced as well as the different aromas of the pasture. On the table it is used for the preparation of risotto, condiments for fresh pasta and gnocchi and for the creation of flans.
Its organoleptic complexities make it extremely versatile in creating numerous dishes.
Historical documents testify to its existence as early as the 12th century and at the end of the 15th century Montébore is the only cheese present on the wedding menu, held in Tortona, between Isabella di Aragona and Gian Galeazzo Sforza, future Duke of Milan, the wedding of which was master of ceremonies Leonardo da Vinci to whom the creation of the curious “pyramid” shape is attributed.
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Noble salami from Giarolo
Our salami enjoys the nickname of “Noble” because it is produced exclusively with all the noble parts of the pig: the lean parts come from the thigh, topside, culatello (salted pork ham), shoulder, loin, fillet; while the fat ones, equally valuable, are obtained from bacon and throat. The pigs come strictly from local farms.
The careful craftsmanship begins with the knife-husking of the meat. After a restful night, the meats are minced and cured with salt, pepper, a delicate note of garlic and red wine from Terre del Giarolo. (The addition of additives such as gluten, milk powder and their derivatives is excluded). The preparation ends with the stuffing in natural casing and with the binding carried out strictly by hand. Then begins the long phase of maturation in natural cellars ranging from thirty days up to 24 months.
There are three types of products made by our artisans.
Il Salame Nobile: It has the dimensions of traditional artisan cured meats. It can be recognized by the coarse-grained dough with an intense red color and the right balance between lean and fat parts. Its aroma and flavor are incomparable, decisive but not aggressive.
Il Cucito: Recognizable by the large diameter and by the bagging in natural double casing that allows a prolonged seasoning that can even reach twenty-four months. Without equal in perfume, aroma and softness, Cucito represents the maximum expression of the tradition of Salame Nobile del Giarolo.
The Giarolini: Due to their small size, they are and were the first to mature (average seasoning for about a month).
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Meat to grass
The Bovine Meat with Grass from Giarolo – Panà – Ebro is a guarantee of a healthy, genuine and high quality production – Maintained by generations of local breeders in the Curone – Grue – Ossona and Val Borbera and Valle Spinti valleys.
The calf is born on the vast pastures of the area and remains with the mother feeding on mother’s milk until weaning which occurs naturally through the most palatable plant essences of the mountain meadows. The food, an essential component that guarantees the safety and quality of the meat produced, is exclusively vegetable, consisting of fresh or hay fodder and cereals coming exclusively from the Territory.
The tenderness, color and flavor of meat with grass are safe indices for the consumer who intends to follow a natural diet with a high nutritional value: the meat is tender and lean and has a low level of cholesterol, being rich in high biological value proteins, vitamins and mineral salts.
These nutritional aspects, so important, are the result of extreme attention to each stage of the rearing process and from the verification of the slaughtering to the cutting stages.
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Volpedo’s peach
For many decades the Tortona hills have had the vocation for the peach cultivation.
The “Pesca di Volpedo” makes the excellence of its quality an element of affirmation on the traditional markets of Milan, Genoa and Turin: the proximity of the cultivation area to these important urban centers makes it possible to harvest the fruit when it has now reached its maximum degree of ripeness which enhances its organoleptic characteristics.
The “Pesca di Volpedo” represents a product whose fame has now gone beyond the local area to reach others important markets of large cities and northern Europe.
Taste, long-lasting aroma, pleasant and intense aroma, the right balance between sugar content and acidity of the juice, large size and harmony of colors are the aspects of the product that meet the consumer’s taste.
Peaches are harvested when they are as close as possible to their point of ripeness, from June to September.
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The “Beauty of Garbagna” cherry
La Bella di Garbagna (transl. “Beauty of Garbagna”) is the classic spirit cherry, sweet and crunchy, which keeps well in alcohol, without falling apart, maintaining consistency and flavor.
It is ideal as a filling for the Boers and in fact it was once highly sought after for this purpose.
It is also excellent in the form of jam, or as a raw material for the production of liqueurs.
In the kitchen, with cinnamon or cloves, it becomes an unusual but extremely interesting accompaniment.
for meats.
The harvest takes place in May-July. During the rest of the year it can be consumed as processed.
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Tortona fragrant strawberry
A new strawberry, different from all existing ones.
Similar to raspberry, in size and color, sweet, aromatic, but above all very fragrant: the Tortona strawberry is a rarity, so much so that the great demand has set in motion a real “fake” market.
It is only available for ten days a year, between the middle and the end of June (depending on the vintage).