Gorgonzola Cheese

Gorgonzola cheese is a very ancient cheese, though - just like many other traditional products - it is not provided with an official birth certificate. In return, many legends and hypothesis exist on its origins.

Some say Gorgonzola was first produced in the homonymous town near Milan, in the year of our Lord 879.

On the contrary, some other say that it was first produced in Pasturo nella Valsassina, a place rich in dairy tradition which natural caves, provided with a constant average temperature of 6-12°C allow a perfect making of Gorgonzola as well as several other cheeses.

Gorgonzola's first name was 'stracchino di Gorgonzola', to be better defined later with the synonym "green stracchino". It was produced with autumn milking, when cows returned from mountain pastures, together with other cheese types processed by means of other blue-mould fungi throughout the Alps territory. However, Gorgonzola was the most renown production and trading place for centuries.

Though slowly compared to other cheeses, Gorgonzola constantly spread in both Lombardy and Piedmont: Pavia and Novara joined Milan and Como areas in the production of Gorgonzola.

The area to be defined by the 1955 and 1977 Decrees was thus already operating as a zone of production and maturing of Gorgonzola cheese, which designation is now protected.

From the beginning of 1900s on, Gorgonzola's success has been growing - especially abroad - with an export record of more than 100,000 quintals/year to Great Britain, France and Germany; Britons prefer white, soft, slightly spicy Gorgonzola, while the French and Germans expressly request blue-veined, strong Gorgonzola, the so-called "two-curds cheese".

Immediately after the war a new technique was implemented: 'one-curd' processing.

This new production system replaced the previous, empirical procedures, which were significantly more expensive as well as more hygienically and qualitatively inconsistent.

This unexpected success caused an imitation rush in other countries such as Austria, Germany, Poland and France itself: blue-veined cheeses with various degrees of spiciness were sold everywhere.

(from www.gorgonzola.com)

Gorgonzola Consortium

Protected Designation of Origin Gorgonzola cheese was recently acknowledged as and recorded by the European Community among 'PDO' products on June 12, 1996 by the EEC Reg. no. 1107/96.

The quality and authenticity of this cheese is ensured by different means. A strict legislation rules production standards and 'PDO' zone for milk collection and cheese maturing. In addition to this, it establishes each gorgonzola round to be marked at its origin reporting the manufacturer's data.

Finally, in order to be sold as such, gorgonzola must be wrapped into aluminium sheets with small embossed on it. Needless to say that cheese without the Consortium marks on both flat faces and the embossed aluminium wrapping is not Gorgonzola.

Thiene CSQA is the entity appointed and authorised by the Ministry for Agri-food Policies for verifying such requirements. Only cheese approved by a compliance certificate allowing to trade the product with protected designation of origin can be sold as 'gorgonzola'.

Appointed and supervised by the Italian Government, in 1970 a Consortium for the protection of Gorgonzola cheese was created watching over the full compliance with and enforcement of national and international legislation protecting gorgonzola's designation of origin.

(from www.gorgonzola.com)