🧀 Castelmagno

Castelmagno is an Italian semi-hard pressed cheese with a protected designation of origin since 1996 (eAmbrosia PDO-IT-0006), made from raw cow's milk to which 5 to 20% sheep's and/or goat's milk may be added. The milk may not be pasteurised or thermised.

According to the specification, the cattle must belong to listed breeds (Barà Pustertaler, Bruna, Pezzata Rossa d'Oropa, Pezzata Rossa, Montbéliarde, Grigio Alpina, Piemontese, Valdostana and their crosses) and be fed on meadow and pasture fodder and hay; maize silage is banned. The milk is coagulated at 30–38 °C with liquid calf rennet. The curd rests at least 18 hours, is then submerged in whey from earlier production for two to four days, and is finally broken, finely ground, salted and pressed in moulds. Ripening lasts at least 60 days in cool, damp natural caves or similar premises, at 5–15 °C and 70–98% humidity.

The ripened cheese is cylindrical, 15–25 cm across and 12–20 cm high, weighing 2 to 7 kg. The rind is inedible, thin and reddish-yellow, darkening and thickening with age. The paste is pearly or ivory white, turning ochre with age, crumbly at first and denser later, possibly with greenish-blue veining that may come from piercing the cheese with long iron prongs. The flavour is subtle, delicate and moderately salty at first and stronger with ageing. Fat is at least 34% of dry matter.

Castelmagno or Gorgonzola? Searches pair them because of the bluish-green veining, but that is only possible in Castelmagno. It is a pressed semi-hard cheese: the curd rests at least 18 hours, spends two to four days under whey from earlier production, is ground fine, salted and pressed. Ripening lasts at least 60 days in cool, damp natural caves. The paste is pearly or ivory white, crumbly at first and denser later, with at least 34% fat in dry matter. For Gorgonzola and other cheeses, check their own specification: the name and the PDO logo tell more than the veining.

Look for “Castelmagno” with the EU PDO symbol (protected designation of origin) and Piedmont, province of Cuneo, as the origin. Each cheese carries the origin mark stamped at moulding and the sventolina conformity label; the pack may say “prodotto della montagna” or “di Alpeggio”. The rind is thin, reddish-yellow and inedible, and the cheese may be sold whole, in segments or in portions. You will find it at a cheese counter, a delicatessen or a cheesemonger.

The cheese is produced and ripened only in the municipalities of Castelmagno, Pradleves and Monterosso Grana in the province of Cuneo. The label may say prodotto della montagna; cheese made above 1,000 m from milk of animals fed at pasture from May to October may add di Alpeggio. Each cheese carries the origin mark stamped at moulding and the sventolina conformity label, and may be sold whole, in segments or in portions.