The Cheese in Bra cheese fair, organized by Slow Food Italia, is for professional gourmets and cheese lovers of every stripe, what Mecca is for a good Muslim: the holy pilgrimage cities that one must visit at least once in a lifetime. And so, in the 20th year of the Biennale (1997–2017), we finally answered the call. Together with several thousand visitors from around the world.
During Cheese, the town center of the small Piedmontese town transforms into a buzzing beehive, attracting not only trade visitors but also many other interested people and, of course, local residents: at the last edition in 2015, 270,000 visitors came to admire and, of course, taste the products of around 300 exhibitors from 23 countries.
The area is divided into various themed sections: on the Affineurs’ Street are such major players as Neal’s Yard Dairy from London, Mons from Paris, and Guffanti from near Milan, but smaller players are also represented.
On the Presidi Street are small producers who make their artisanal products using traditional methods from the milk of indigenous breeds and come from protected rural areas from all over Italy and abroad. A very exciting mix!
At the Italian market, as the name suggests, Italian cheese makers are represented. Then there is the Enoteca, where you can sit and order various cheeses, small dishes, and open wines, the Casa Slow Food, various workshops, a piazza with food trucks, and the wonderful Piazza del Gelato. Here, gelato is sold, partly made from Presidi products, such as from real Robiola!
We first visited our suppliers and business partners such as Luigi Guffanti (whom we had already visited immediately after arriving in Italy and whose fragrant cheese cellars we were able to tour), Joseph Paccard from Savoie, and Neal’s Yard Dairy.
We also visited Marina from Azienda Agricola Papa dei Boschi at her stand and tasted the new harvest of her wonderful roasted Piedmontese hazelnuts.
We also ran into Manuel Maia from Portugal, who let us taste his delicious goat and sheep cheeses, the highly charming fromagers Basco-Béarnais, whose Basque cheeses we occasionally include in our program, Joe Schneider, the legendary Stichelton maker, as well as the friendly Cheddar makers Jamie Montgomery and his colleagues, Westcombe and Keene, at the neighboring stand.
In addition to these old acquaintances, we were also able to taste new varieties that were previously unknown to us: including the highly interesting and very diverse grey cheese from Switzerland, an Italian sheep cheese that is not fermented with rennet but with a pig’s stomach pickled in vinegar and wine, the smoked Polish sheep cheese known as Oscypek, which can be eaten either plain or grilled with cranberries, Swiss mountain cheese with hemp seeds …
To conclude our little cheese tour, we finally had the honor of being invited to a get-together at Cravero, which is traditionally hosted by Cravero himself and Neal’s Yard Dairy at the craveroschen estate with a spectacular view over the valley. After a few speeches, we had the opportunity to taste various British cheeses over one or more glasses of Prosecco and exchange ideas with colleagues in the Parmesan cellar against the impressive backdrop.
We have now returned full of impressions and are already looking forward to Cheese Berlin, which takes place on Sunday, November 5, 2017, at the Kreuzberger Markthalle Neun. Many of our international friends will also be coming, and of course, we hope to welcome as many of you as possible at our stand there!
Until then, we are dreaming of cheese ... and fantastic Italian gelato ...!
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And this is what the cheese cellars at Guffanti look like:
