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Taleggio is a Lombard cheese with a sweet taste and a pleasant fatness. Perfect for enriching croutons, risottos, succulent first courses and making vegetables unforgettable, it is also the ideal filling for pies and savory pies. But before we find out how we cooked it, here's the story and some little instructions for use.

History

The fame of the "Lombard cheese" – initially produced also throughout the flat area between the Ticino and the Lambro, up to the Po – grew throughout the Middle Ages up to appear in the Renaissance cookbooks of Cristoforo da Messisburgo and Platina. To the point that in the 15th century the Sforza family had to work to repress their flourishing smuggling. And even celebrities were fond of it: in 1692, a hungry Ludovico Antonio Muratori was sent "two pounds of Val Imagna cheese that you both like". Even Giacomo Casanova was a great admirer, between a love affair and the other. In 1791 of his ruling use speaks The new Milanese chef, citing the typical cheeses produced in Lombardy including the "stracchino quadro di Milano". With the 800 the Lombard bovine patrimony begins to grow. And it also begins a certain territorial differentiation between Lombard cheeses that will definitely bring the "heart" of Taleggio production as we understand it towards the Lombard valleys, especially between Lecco and Bergamo.

The origin of the name

As we saw initially, the most used term was "Lombard cheese", Which was then joined by that of"stracchino". With the term "stracchino" or "quartirolo", in fact, in Lombardy each soft cheese was meant, weighing about one kg. The name is none other than the twentieth-century abbreviation of “quartirolo or stracchino quartirolo from the Val Taleggio". That is the small valley in the province of Bergamo which, together with the nearby Valsassina, had the privilege of producing the best "quartiroli". However, as early as the 1930s, a production of this cheese is documented also in Piedmont and Veneto. While, at the same time, the differentiation between "stracchino" (semi-mature low-fat cheese), "quartirolo" (stracchino produced from 24 September onwards, when the cattle ate "erba quartirola") and, indeed, "Taleggio" (with minimum seasoning of 35 days). The term "Taleggio" officially appears for the first time in 1944 and it reaches us even after obtaining the Dop mark in 1996.

How to store it

It is not a cheese of complicated preservation, but some rules must be followed to avoid shortening the duration of its duration. First, never wrap it in plastic wrap, but keep the paper in which the cheesemaker wraps it at the time of purchase. Alternatively, use a damp cloth that will preserve the softness of the crust. The ideal temperature to keep it fresh is between 0 and 6 degrees and can even freeze.

Which wines to accompany it

It goes well with a wine that lets its maximum character be expressed to the fullest. To counteract the fatness, better to opt for the bubbles, while to dry the succulence we recommend a wine that has one slight tannin note. The best turns out to be a sweet red, fragrant, slightly sparkling and young, sour but not unripe. The sommelier Giorgio Menaggia suggests a Bonarda or a Lambrusconot sweet but dry, or a Gutturnio. Also indicated on Pinot Noir, vinified however so that it has a minimum of animosity, or a Cabernet.

In the gallery above, Taleggio in 20 recipes.