Malga bellunese cheese

Malga bellunese cheese

Malga Bellunese is a semi-hard, semi-cooked cows' milk cheese. The Malga (mountain dairy huts) and the Malghesi (dairy herdsmen) are archetypical figures of the economy of Belluno. Cattle are regularly driven up to the high mountain pastures where the finest herbs and flowers grow. These mountain dairy huts are scattered throughout the whole province. All of the huts are accessible, and all of them sell their produce.

Malga Bellunese is cylindrical in shape, with slightly convex sides of a height of 5-10cm, diameter of 25-40 cm and weight of 4-7 Kg. The paste is close-textured, flaky when mature, slightly pitted with small, irregular holes. It varies in colour from straw-yellow to deep yellow. It has a full, marked flavour, becoming more intense and aromatic as it ages. It is matured for at least 2 months to more than 8 months.

The variability of its organoleptic characteristics is due to the particular diet of the cows in the high-altitude pastures, where there is an extremely wide variety of vegetables and flowers.

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