Valtellina Casera is a cheese made from semi-skimmed cows’ milk in the northern Italian province of Sondrio

Province of Sondrio

The Province of Sondrio is in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the town of Sondrio.It has an area of 3,212 km², and a total population of 176,856...

. Its origins date back to the sixteenth century and it is much used in the cuisine of the Valtellina

Valtellina

Valtellina or the Valtelline valley ; is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Today it is known for its skiing, its hot spring spas, its cheeses and its wines...

: particularly in dishes based on buckwheat

Buckwheat

Buckwheat refers to a variety of plants in the dicot family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, the North American genus Eriogonum, and the Northern Hemisphere genus Fallopia. Either of the latter two may be referred to as "wild buckwheat"...

 flour such as pizzoccheri

Pizzoccheri

Pizzoccheri are a type of short tagliatelle, a flat ribbon pasta, made with 80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour. When classically prepared in Valtellina or in Graubünden, they are cooked along with greens , and cubed potatoes...

 and sciatt.

It has had Protected designation of origin

Protected designation of origin

Protected Geographical Status is a legal framework defined in European Union law to protect the names of regional foods. Protected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are distinct regimes of geographical indications within the framework...

 (PDO) status under European Union law since 1996; its production is managed by the Consorzio Tutela Formaggi Valtellina Casera e Bitto and certification is regulated by CSQA of Thiene

Thiene

Thiene is a city and comune in the province of Vicenza, in northern Italy, located approximately 75 km west of Venice and 200 km east of Milan....

.

External links

• Consorzio Tutela Formaggi Valtellina Casera e Bitto