From September 15 -18, the cities of Bra and Pollenzo will host the 2017 edition of the largest and now traditional international cheese festival: Cheese. This event, running since 1997, is held every two years and coordinated by the city of Bra and the Slow Food international organisation.
The 2017 edition of Cheese aims to spotlight the traditional production of cheese and has reserved an exclusive area at the event to exhibit artisan cheese made from raw milk products in order to raise the quality of the products available, give a sample of the authentic products, their place of origin, the livestock breed that produced the milk, and the cheesemaker’s skills.
In this edition of the festival, the Slow Food network wants to identify products that express the authenticity of the culture where the cheeses are made, those that respect biodiversity, and avoid commercially selected starter cultures and standardising flavours. Fifty cheesemakers from all over the world have registered for the event in this category. Belgium will be there with its renowned raw-milk Herve, Cape Verde with raw-milk goat cheeses from the Planalto Norte, and Ireland will present cheeses from ten artisanal dairies who work with different styles and techniques, all top-quality cheeses. The selection from Italy includes Farindola pecorino from Abruzzo, Monte Poro pecorino from Calabria, Çuç di Mont from Friuli Venezia Giulia, and a raw-milk pecorino from the Maremma in Tuscany.
The United Kingdom will be represented by artisanal Somerset Cheddar and raw-milk Stichelton, Norway will have artisanal geitost from the Sognefjord, Holland presents an aged artisan Gouda and a traditional Boeren Leyden. Romania comes to the table with a Branza de Burduf, Poland, an Oscypek from the Tatra Mountain, Switzerland, the Presidia Emmentaler & Sbrinz, and the United States, the guest country this year, will be represented by 15 different types of cheese.
The event will also have a Great Hall of Cheese, where visitors can sample a selection of cheeses available and the Enoteca offers the perfect pairing and tasting, chosen from 600 wines selected by Pollenzo’s Wine Bank.
You’ll also find five master pizzaiolo taking turns in front of the oven at the Pizza Square, while 36 craft beer brewers will be pouring their finest beers at the Beer Square.
It will also have a Gelato Square organised by the Compagnia dei Gelatieri, and 15 street food stands and food trucks serving up a range of food.
There will also be conferences featuring leading Italian and international speakers, special events at the Biodiversity House and activities organised by the University of Gastronomic Sciences.
Cheese is certainly enjoying its heyday with this year’s edition seeing a big increase in the numbers of international exhibitors registering for this fantastic festival of flavours.
