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This cheese gets its name from a stream that
feeds the river Adda. This cheeses' uniqueness comes from the pastures of the Valtellina,
pastures that are particularly difficult to reach, and where only goats can
reach. Even today this cheese is also consumed fresh. Bitto, is by tradition a cheese destined for
ageing, and that can take up
to 10 years. Bitto is exclusively produced in the Alps, by a system called
“Alpeggio” where the farmer with some difficulty takes the animals to
pasture in different fields (the winter production is called “Valtellina
Casera”) and due to the difficulties, the
production requires a lot of hard work, but is indispensable to the
production. To avoid
the summer heat which alters the flavor, the cheese-makers transport the
cheeses from the bottom of the valley to cellars in the high mountains.
A very important safeguard for prestigious characteristics of this
cheese, is the production of 16 “Alpeggi Valtellinesi”, where traditional
working methods are still scrupulously followed.
This production is recognizable by the “Valli dei Brito” fire branded mark
on the cheeses. As mentioned above, the valleys where Bitto originates,
more precisely Val Gerola, permits the breeding of the goats which are
indispensable for the production of this cheese, as it is only with the
careful addition of goat’s milk (to the cow’s milk) that it is possible to
obtain such a special cheese.
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BITTO DOP
