History
The Asiago cheese is undoubtedly the Vicentine food product par excellence. It takes its name from the famous town on the Asiago and 7 Commons Plateau, which witnessed the creation of Asiago cheese seven centuries ago. Milk cows progressively substituted sheep farming in this area, starting from the beginning of the Sixteenth century, when bovine milk had begun to be widely used throughout the region of the Padana plains. As early as the year 1000, a tasty cheese was produced on the Plateau from sheep’s milk. At the time, the herds of sheep migrated from one area to another, providing wool for the textiles industries in the Alto Vicentino, among other things. During the successive dominion of the Serenissima Republic, many records defined Asiago as the seat of an important wool and cheese trade fair “where a great many people came from all of the surrounding mountains”.
A tradition of dairy farming was thus born that is still conserved today in the malgas, which make increasing use of the advanced productive technologies that are more necessary than ever before, to guarantee the quality of one of the most famous products in the country. The more ancient Asiago, which is closer to the austere tradition of plateau dairy farmers, definitely concerns the “breeding” or aged cheese, whose forms are cut only after months of aging. This cheese is also called “pegorin”, a dialectal term that evokes tastes and traditions that have now been abandoned. In the 1920s, on the other hand, the production of Asiago cheese was characterized by a shorter period of aging. This cheese is called “pressed” or “fresh” Asiago”, because the forms are subjected to pressing with manual or hydraulic presses as soon as they are produced. This cheese progressively encountered the taste of modern consumers, as it has a softer consistency and sweeter taste than the austere aged Asiago.
Product Characteristics
Asiago is a cheese that has a semi-cooked pasta made from cows’ milk. There are two types of Asiago cheese on the market: “Fresh Asiago” and “Aged Asiago”. The different characteristic tastes of the two cheeses are due to the different period of aging and the different
system used to process the milk. Fresh Asiago is
obtained from bovine whole milk and is aged for a period ranging from 20 to 40 days. Aged Asiago is obtained from partially skimmed cows’ milk and is aged for a period ranging from 3 to 24 months or more. Consequently, fresh Asiago has the soft and delicate taste of fresh milk, while aged Asiago has a more
decisive, stronger taste, which tastes different
depending upon the aging length period.
How it is produced
Asiago is obtained from the transformation of whole cows’ milk from one or two milkings. The coagulation is obtained by adding cow curds at a temperature between 35° and 40° C. Cutting of the curds is done as soon as the coagulation of the milk has reached an appropriate consistency, and is generally done with a “lira”, a tool made up of thin steel wires stretched between two extremities. The successive partial cooking is done until the temperature of the mass being processed is raised to 44° - 45° C. Finally, the curds are extracted and the pasta is formed, which is then salted and placed in the product binding, where it is stamped with the marking that indicates the origin. The successive aging must last for at least 20 days for fresh Asiago and at least three months for aged Asiago; this process must be performed within the area of origin in warehouses whose storage temperature and relative humidity are meticulously controlled (optimal temperatures range from 11° to 14° C and relative humidity must be between 80 and 85%).
Where it is produced
The area of production of the Asiago cheese includes the entire territory of the provinces of Trento and Vicenza and numerous cities in the provinces of Padua and Treviso. The heart of the classical area of production, of course, is the Asiago and 7 Commons Plateau. An extremely typical product of the Veneto land, Asiago was and is the most widespread and consumed cheese in the area of production, which has been protected since 1996 with the P.D.O. marking. Thanks to this recognition, Asiago can be produced only in the area of origin and exclusively with milk from the same area. Each form of cheese is of course guaranteed and certified by the Protection Consortium.
Product Protection and Consortium
Protected Designation of Origin (P.D.O.) Asiago always bears the impression on the crust of the form of the logo and denomination of origin “Asiago”. The “DOC” form of protection was obtained on 21 December 1978, when the law defined the area of
collection of the milk and its transformation into cheese within the territory of the above provinces. On 12 June 1996 Asiago also obtained the Denomination of Protected Origin classification (Reg. 1107/96). This means that the cheese is no longer guaranteed only by the marking of the Consortium of Protection, but also by a European recognition, which certifies respect of the traditional methods of production and raising of the animals, from the dairy to the finished product.
The Consortium for the Protection of Asiago Cheese has its headquarters in Vicenza. It was founded in 1979 to control the quality of the finished product and monitor the correct use of the denominations, markings and trademarks, promoting the knowledge of Asiago in Italy and abroad. The organisation today unites 45 producers and seasoners.
It was the first cheese consortium in Italy to obtain ISO 9001/2001 quality management system certification, which also concerns the planning and distribution of services relative to the promotion, valorisation, monitoring and protection of Asiago P.D.O. and consumer information.
Generic Description
The marking at origin
confers Asiago P.D.O. with unmistakeable recognition. It consists of a series of “Asiago” writings and the P.D.O. logo stamped directly on the crust of the cheese or the border of the form.
The marking attests without doubt the origin of the
product. Another guarantee of quality at the origin is provided by the serial
number stamped on the crust of each form, whose purpose is to identify the dairy
producer. Then there is the numbered cheese stamp. This number traces traces the date of production and the data relative to the
processing and the names of the dairy farmers who
produced the milk.
TECHNICAL CARD
- The quantities: the production of Asiago cheese in 2004 exceeded 23 thousand tonnes, for a total turnover of over 100 million euros. Thanks to these numbers, Asiago ranks fifth on the national P.D.O. cheese market.
- Ingredients: only cows’ milk from one or two milkings. Whole milk is used for the “fresh” type, and partially skimmed milk is used for the “seasoned” variety. Bovine curds and salt are also required.
- Aging: for the fresh type, the “pre-salting” stage (also called “cooling”) is performed by storing the cheese under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity, near 13 – 15° C and 85% relative humidity, for a period of time that may vary from 36 to 96 hours. If the phase of salting is not completed beforehand while the cheese is in the form of pasta, it may be performed in two ways: by dispersing it over the surface or brine (at 16 – 19° C). The successive phase of aging must last at least twenty days for the fresh type and three months for the aged type.
- Nutritional properties: Asiago cheese is rich in protein (similar to and even more than meat), vitamins A, B, B2 and PP and has a balanced presence of mineral salts (calcium and phosphorous in particular). It is therefore advised in diets for persons of all ages.
USEFUL ADDRESSES
Consorzio per la tutela del Formaggio Asiago
(Consortium for the Protection of Asiago Cheese)
Corso Fogazzaro, 18
36100 Vicenza
Ph. +39 0444 321758
Fax. +39 0444 326212
E-mail: asiago@asiagocheese.it
Website: www.asiagocheese.com
TRADE FAIRS AND EVENTS
Asiago
(August): Il formaggio sotto il cielo di Asiago
(Cheese under the Sky of Asiago)
Ph. +39 0444 994750
Recipes
Salad with artichokes and Asiago Mezzano
4 salad artichokes,
200 g. Asiago Mezzano “medium - ripe variety” cheese,
1 tablespoon of sweet mustard sauce,
50 g. extra virgin olive oil, juice of half lemon, salt, pepper.
Slice Asiago cheese with a special truffle cutter. Place cheese in the middle of each dish. Clean artichokes, remove their external leaves and almost all their stem, slice finely.
Emulsify oil, mustard sauce and lemon juice. Quickly dress artichokes with this sauce.
Serve artichokes on the Asiago cheese and garnish with parsley or sliced radishes.
Thick corn mush (Polenta) with pressed Asiago cheese fondue and mushrooms
200 g fresh Asiago cheese,
half drinking glass of cream
200 g mushrooms ,
400 g corn flour
Put diced Asiago cheese with cream melt into a fondue pan blending it continuously so that it does not stick. Spit-roast sliced mushrooms over high heat with oil and a garlic clove (to be removed).
Cook polenta. Pour polenta each dish, put some melted cheese on top. Above all put the spit-roasted mushrooms. Serve hot. Notice that instead of mushrooms you can use black truffles which can be partly heated in Asiago cheese fondue and the remaining part to dress each dish.
Onion with salt
4 servings
4 big onions,
320 g fresh Asiago cheese,
2 kg salt.
Clean onions, cut on the top and set them in a baking pan covered with salt. Put in oven for 120 minutes at 150 °C.
Remove onions from salt and empty them keeping undamaged the external part (they should became a case). Cut into slices the internal part, add fresh Asiago cheese and place into a pan, cook until the cheese melts (every now and then pour some milk).
Pour hot the fondue on the empty onions. If desired add some black truffles to the fondue.
Mushrooms cream
4 servings
150 g. pressed Asiago cheese,
50 g Asiago medium - ripe variety
200 g. champignon mushrooms,
300 g. cleaned pumpkin,
1 onion,
30 g. butter
2 flour tablespoons,
1/2 l. milk
parsley
salt, pepper
toasted slices of bread.
Brown minced onion with butter, add cleaned and diced mushrooms with diced pumpkin.
Let the whole get spicy and sprinkle with flour, blend and add some milk. Add 1/2 l. of water and boil for 20 minutes. Grated cheeses and mix with cream little by little. Mix until completely blended and cook on low heat. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with minced parsley. Serve the cream soup on dishes with toasted slices of bread.
Baked meatloaf with aged Asiago cheese
6 servings
120 g aged Asiago cheese
600 g minced beef meat
1 leek
500 g of herbs or
fresh spinach
2 eggs
olive oil,
butter,
bread crumbs, salt
Slice leek finely, shallow fry with some oil and butter. Add herbs (or spinach) mix in a blender and cook until soft and dry. Keep warm and add meat, eggs and the grated Asiago cheese. Dress with salt and mix. Butter a baking bowl and spread bread crumbs. Place the meat compound. Cook for about one hour in pre heated oven (200°C). Let the meatloaf stand for 5 minutes, then serve with green salad or with green beans and butter.
Asiago Cheese
