🧀 Nostrano Valtrompia

Nostrano Valtrompia is a hard Italian cheese with a protected designation of origin (PDO), made from raw cow's milk with added saffron. It belongs to the hard cheeses and to the Italian cheeses section.

The production area is the Trompia Valley (Val Trompia) in the province of Brescia, Lombardy: eighteen municipalities plus the mountain part of Gussago. Milk production, cheesemaking, maturing, scraping and oiling of the wheels must all take place there.

At least 90% of the milk comes from Italian Brown cows entered in the herd book. Grass or hay from local mixed meadows forms the basis of the feed, and maize silage is not allowed. The milk is partly skimmed by letting the cream rise, and saffron is added at 0.05–0.2 g per 100 kg of milk. During maturing the rind is oiled, traditionally with linseed oil.

The minimum maturing period is 12 months. Wheels measure 30–45 cm across and 8–12 cm high and weigh 8–18 kg. The rind is hard, yellow-brown to reddish; the paste is straw-yellow tending to yellow-green, hard but not overly crumbly, and may have fine to medium eyes. Flavour and aroma are full and intense; very mature cheeses have a slight pungency.

Why it matters to you: the PDO mark goes with raw milk of Brown cows, saffron and at least a year of maturing in Val Trompia.