🧀 Ossolano

Ossolano is an Italian cow's milk cheese with Protected Designation of Origin status, made in the Ossola valleys at the far northern tip of Piedmont. This semi-hard, semi-cooked and pressed cheese has a firm, springy paste with small irregular eyes, and it must mature for at least 60 days. ²

Valleys and milk. The Ossola runs about 70 km between the Swiss cantons of Valais and Ticino. Production is limited to 38 named municipalities in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, and every stage from keeping the cows to maturing happens there. ² Farms are small, with 10 to 70 milking cows, because the steep terrain breaks the land into small plots. ² The milk comes from Brown, Friesian and Pezzata Rossa cows and their crosses, from two to four successive milkings, all year round. Grass and fodder from the area must make up at least 60% of the feed's annual dry matter. ² This matters for flavour: the rules name forage as an influence on the milk and the cheese, with Alpine lovage as an example. ²

How it is made. The rules allow raw or pasteurised whole milk, and starters from selected local lactic bacteria may be used. ⁵ The milk is curdled with rennet at 36–39 °C, and the curd is cut to the size of maize grains in 5–10 minutes. It is then heated to 42–45 °C for 15–30 minutes while being kept moving, pressed for up to 12 hours and salted dry or in brine. ⁵ Wheels mature at 5–14 °C and 75–90% humidity; their rinds may be scraped, washed with salted water or oiled. ⁵ Heating helps the whey drain. According to the EU document, this technique came from Walser settlers who adapted to a wet, moderate climate. Together with pressing, it favours the microflora behind the eyes, smaller than a grain of rice, and the firm texture that sets Ossolano apart from softer Piedmont cheeses of similar size. ²

The Alpine version. Ossolano d'Alpe is the same PDO, made from 1 June to 30 September on pastures at 1,400 m or higher, from one or two successive milkings. Grazing is compulsory, and pasture must supply at least 90% of the dry matter in the feed. ² A Turin University study of 73 samples from 19 farms, published in 2003, found less saturated and more unsaturated fat in Alpine cheese than in valley cheese, along with differences in flavour and structure. ⁷ The study predates the PDO: its cheeses weighed 8–9 kg and came only from Brown cows, so it shows the effect of pasture rather than describing today's labelled cheese. ⁷

Look and taste. Wheels are cylinders 29–32 cm across and 6–9 cm high, weighing 6–7 kg, or 5–6 kg for the Alpine version, with at least 40% fat in the dry matter. ² The rind is smooth and straw yellow, and it darkens with age. The paste ranges from pale straw to deep yellow; a stronger colour is linked to spring and summer forage and to maturing. ² The EU document describes a delicate but intense smell with notes of nuts, butter, ripe and dried fruit, vanilla and Alpine flowers. ² Ossolano can mature for more than 12 months, and it then becomes harder, more intense and slightly spicy. ⁴

How to recognise it. A whole wheel has "Ossolano" stamped around its side, a paper label on one face and a brand burned in no earlier than the end of minimum maturing. ² The label is green for standard Ossolano and brown for d'Alpe, and only the paper label carries the words "d'Alpe". ² A portion must still show part of the stamped side and label, or the name on the packaging. Portioning may happen outside the area, but cubes, slices or shavings that remove the marked rind may be packed only inside it, so that the origin can still be traced. ²

History and status. ONAF, the Italian cheese tasters' organisation, cites a parchment of 12 July 1006 in which Bishop Pietro of Novara leases land for 100 pounds of cheese a year. ⁴ As ONAF describes it, the document shows cheese used as rent, not a recipe for today's Ossolano. Piedmont announced the recognition request in 2012. ⁹ The EU file is dated 24 November 2015, the application was published on 10 June 2017, and the name was registered by a regulation of 22 September 2017. ¹²³ A consortium received its official mandate from the Italian ministry in June 2020. It then reported two cooperative dairies, about 40 farms and 3 maturers; a dairy director spoke of about 3,000 wheels the year before. ⁶ In April 2026 Piedmont published the consortium's request to widen the weight limits to 5.8–7.2 kg and 4.8–6.2 kg, and maturing humidity to 95%. We found no approval as of November 2026, so the current limits are given above. ⁵

At the table. ONAF suggests eating Ossolano at room temperature, or melted over boiled potatoes, polenta or toasted bread. It is also used in fondue, black bread soup and Ossola gnocchi made with pumpkin, chestnut, potato and flour; very mature cheese can be grated into risotto, soufflés or fresh pasta. ⁴ Traditional matches are red wines such as Barbera, Dolcetto, Barolo and Nebbiolo-based wines from Novara, and younger cheese also suits aromatic whites. ⁴ One retailer's label lists about 380 kcal, 32 g fat, 26 g protein and 1.8 g salt per 100 g and storage at 0–4 °C. These figures are for that product, not for a PDO standard. ⁸

Ossolano or Ossolano d'Alpe? Both are the same PDO. Standard Ossolano is made all year in the valleys, with at least 60% of the feed from local grass and fodder, while d'Alpe is made only from 1 June to 30 September on pastures at 1,400 m or higher, with pasture giving at least 90% of the feed and wheels of 5–6 kg instead of 6–7 kg. Set against softer Piedmont cheeses of similar size, Ossolano is firmer and springier, because the curd is heated and pressed, a technique that came from Walser settlers.

Look for “Ossolano” stamped around the side of a whole wheel, a paper label on one face and a brand burned in after the minimum maturing. The label is green for standard Ossolano and brown, with the words “d'Alpe”, for the Alpine version. A portion must still show part of the stamped side and label, or the name on the packaging. Check for the PDO symbol (protected designation of origin) at a cheese counter or delicatessen.

Why it matters to you. The label tells you what you are buying: green for year-round cheese from the valleys, brown for summer cheese from high pastures. Age changes the use, so choose younger cheese for eating and melting, and very mature cheese for grating. ⁴ If you avoid raw milk cheese, read the ingredients, because both raw and pasteurised milk are allowed. ⁵