Welcome to South Tyrol, the land of gray cheese! We call it "fromage gris" in French, but here, on the border with Austria, we speak of Graukäse. A cheese very specific to the region and tinted with Austrian culture (it is a PDO in Austria under the name Tiroler Graukäse), made from skimmed milk resulting from the production of butter. Butter (unsalted, let us specify it for the Bretons who read us) is the historical production of the region which was the added value of the milk produced in the mountains. The farms valued skimmed milk by making a special cheese: Graukäse. Historically, it was considered as the cheese for "poor people". Since 2005, Graukäse has been listed among the traditional dairy products protected through Slow Food and its recognition in the agricultural heritage of Italy has allowed breeders to double the selling price of their cheese (sold 4 € per kilo in the 2000s, nowadays Graukäse is sold between 7 and 12 € per kilo!).
Currently, there are twenty Graukäse producersin this region. There is no standard for this cheese which has traditionally been made in multiple ways. Even today, each farm has its own technique for adding value to skimmed milk and no Graukäse is similar to others. Thus, there are many cheeses with the same name, but different tastes and above all, different production techniques. Some are pressed, resulting in a crumbly cheese, pure white in the center, covered with a yellow rind that develops during maturation and exposure to air. Others are matured without first pressing and resemble a large cake, mixing several tones, varying from white to yellow. In all cases, Graukäse contains 2% fat and 33 to 35% protein: a healthy cheese in brief!
Claudia and Roland together raise ten Simmental cows at the “Moar Hof” farm in Acereto. We went to meet them with Martin, an expert in Graukäse! Martin sells cheese at the village grocery store nearby (in Sand in Taufers) and helps preserve Graukäse with Slow Food. It was in a small, well-decorated farmhouse, 1300 meters above sea level, that we met Claudia. We took with us our German glossary, because although we are in Italian territory, the region speaks more generally Austrian, or German!
So in Moar Hof, ten redheads are raised, fed on hay, grass silage and grain. At the same time, the cows graze on five hectares around the farm and the trips outside are conditioned by the sometimes capricious climate of the region (snow, rain). The two heifers kept for the renewal of the herd graze in the mountain, a little higher up.
The cows' house. Ladies live on the ground floor of this large typical building of the region.
One of the ten Simmental cows from the Moar Hof farm
The farm sells its products in their store, located in the house's cellar. In the basement is the central square of the farm: where milk is transformed into butter and cheese. The making of butter and cheese is punctuated according to a two-day time step: one day they make butter, one day they make cheese. Every two days, 400 liters of milk enter the laboratory and are centrifuged. Two phases then distinguish: cream, used for butter and skimmed milk, used for cheese.
The Moar Hof farm shop
The butter from the cream will be cleared three times, then stamped with the name of the farm using a wooden mold engraved "Moar Hof". Claudia uses herbs from her vegetable garden to season her butter: marjoram, chives or plain… These are the butters that can be tasted at the farm!
From left to right: Photo 1. Wooden molds used for butter making; Photo 2. Claudia's vegetable garden; Photo 3. Aromatic plants used in particular for making butter; Photo 4. Butter stamped "Moar Hof".
On the cheese side, Claudia makes pressed or unpressed Graukäse. Milk coagulation is obtained spontaneously after skimming, by acidification. After 24 hours of standing, the coagulated "cheese" is brought to 55 ° C, then packaged in molds to allow the whey to escape. For the first few days, the cheeses are exposed to the air in a ventilated room, as they emit a strong smell of ammonia. They are then matured for a minimum of 2 weeks. It also diversifies the farm products by offering clarified butter (Butterschmalz) and jams.
From left to right: Photo 1. Fresh graukäse during drying process (not pressed); Photo 2. Fresh graukäse during drying process (pressed); Photo 3. Graukäse not pressed during maturation (tones from white to yellow appear during maturation); Photo 4. Pressed Graukäse (white inside and yellow outside); Photo 5. Different presentation of the Graukäse.
At Moar Hof, nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed ... Or almost!
In this region of Italy, we have found and preserved a method of valuing the skimmed milk obtained from the manufacture of butter. An economical and ecological way of recycling! But after making cheese, there is still whey left. Claudia and Roland want to go further, by adding value to the whey, which today is being discarded. Next year, they hope to raise a few pigs outdoors, which will receive the whey from the processing plant in their diet. So the circle will be closed!
Moment of discussion with Martin (right) and Claudia (center), around a cheese plate with a small beer!
Did you know ?
- The cheese festival
Slow Food organizes the International Cheese Festival every two years in Bra, Italy. Martin is helping to organize this event. The festival brings together producers of traditional cheeses from Italy and around the world (here can be found "Sir iz Mijeha", our famous cheese matured in sheepskin we discovered in Bosnia). For a long weekend, the historic center of Bra hosts large stands where the cheeses registered among Presidia Slow Food (groups of producers who maintain a know-how, a traditional method of breeding and/or endangered indigenous breeds). Through this festival, Slow Food raises awareness about "eating well", about breeds biodiversity, connection with the territory, animal welfare and the expertise of women and men who make these cheeses. This year 2021, the International Cheese Festival will be held from September 17 to 22. A must if you are staying in Italy during this period.