{"id":32161,"date":"2017-11-15T13:00:07","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T18:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=32161"},"modified":"2017-11-14T15:23:11","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T20:23:11","slug":"cheese-journeys-passport-garessio-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-journeys-passport-garessio-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheese Journeys: Passport to Valcasotto, Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this multi-part travelogue series, Anna Juhl, founder of Cheese Journeys<\/a>, takes you deep into the world of cheese. From the birth of a cheese in the Alps to an after-hours cheese party at Philadelphia’s DiBruno Bros., each installment is a behind-the-scenes adventure. Come back every other Wednesday for a new story.<\/i><\/p>\n

\n

Discovering Beppino Occelli and his ‘Dessert Cheeses’<\/h2>\n

It was another one of those serendipitous connections made on a family trip that led me to Beppino Occelli and his ‘dessert cheeses’. About six years ago, a couple of years before launching Cheese Journeys, we were all feeling the stress of NYC life and dreaming of a vacation in some out-of-the-way part of Italy\u2014where we could set camp for a couple of weeks and indulge in our passion for good food, sightseeing, and local culture.<\/p>\n

I had heard about the Ligurian Alps in the northwest, bordering France: Some travel pundits were calling it the next Tuscany. My husband John searched rental properties and eventually settled on one in Garessio, in southernmost Piedmont, close to Liguria. It looked ideal: John was thrilled at the prospect of hiking in the mountains nearby; the fairytale landscape of Barolo country an hour away, beckoned our daughters; and in two-three hours, I could be in Portofino or Nice. The Italian and French Rivieras were that close.<\/p>\n

To my surprise, my American and Italian friends were perplexed. \u201cGaressio? Where\u2019s that?\u201d they asked. \u201cWhy are you going there?\u201d Without wanting to divulge much about my newly found dream vacation spot, I shot back with a travelogue blurb: \u201cIt\u2019s off the beaten track, a lovely little town in the middle of nowhere but convenient to everywhere. It has friendly, hospitable inhabitants and a surprisingly rich history and culture going back to Roman times.\u201d After that, they chose to take a wait-and-see attitude.<\/p>\n

\n
\"cheese<\/a>

Inside the Occeli caves in Valcasotto. Photo courtesy Beppino Occeli.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Our landlord (and soon-to-be friend), Giulia, turned out to be an Italian-American architect and preservationist who had restored lovely old properties in many parts of the world. She had renovated several medieval buildings in Garessio and, to boost the village economy, had arranged for locals to offer her guests cooking classes, wine tastings, and even spa services.<\/p>\n

When I mentioned my interest in cheese to Giulia, she answered casually, \u201cOh, we have a cheesemaker just up the road. I could arrange a visit if you like.\u201d Of course! The Juhl family never declines an offer of a cave tour and tasting.<\/h3>\n

Little did we know that the local cheesemaker was Beppino Occelli,<\/a> world-famous for his butter, but more recently as one of Italy\u2019s greatest entrepreneurs of artisan cheese. Occelli revived the ancient alpine cheesemaking traditions<\/a> in the mountains around Valcasotto, 12 miles up from Garessio. He restored the old village and rejuvenated its restaurant, Locanda del Mulino<\/em> (\u2018Inn at the Mill\u2019), named after the old water-driven flour mill he also brought back to life.<\/p>\n

Always on the lookout for new recipes and skills, the girls and I made room in our relaxed schedule for a cooking class. Our instructor was a talented local chef named Alessandra. We quickly learned that making gnocchi is not as easy as it looks.
\nOver the years, we\u2019ve gone back to Garessio as a family several times, and, when the pace of life gets too intense, we have a phrase we use around our house: \u201cI need to Garessio.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2016, I returned to Valcasotto on a scouting trip with Dave Gibbons. Occelli himself hosted our cave tour and tasting, followed by a three-hour luncheon, courtesy of Chef Alessandra, who runs the restaurant and does a masterful job of incorporating Occelli products into her menus. As we pondered how to fit a full visit into our busy Northern Italy itinerary, we enjoyed the local stone-ground polenta with melted cheese on top, some ravioli stuffed with crutin\u2014 a cow\u2019s milk cheese laced with shavings of summer black truffle, and some rustic hand-cut maltagliati<\/em> pasta, with a sauce of Occelli butter, and more crutin. There was a tasting plate for dessert, which included eight of the 25-plus cheeses on Occelli\u2019s roster. Among them are regional classics such as Robiola<\/a> and Castelmagno as well as several local gems, including tumas (tommes) and a Valcasotto.<\/p>\n

Occelli\u2019s cheeses<\/a> are a great example of the Italian penchant for elaboration\u2014that is, creating multiple variations from one basic recipe, with an eye toward outstanding flavor and presentation. The base cheese for his Gran Riserva line is called Cusi\u00e9, which stands for \u201ccosa che c\u2019e<\/em>\u201d (what there is) in the local dialect. Traditionally, after making their smallish Robiolas, local artisans would use the leftover milk\u2014not just cows but also sheep and goats\u2014to make larger wheels of cheese meant for longer aging.<\/h3>\n
\n
\"cheese<\/a>

Mike Geno’s painting of ‘Occelli con frutta e Grappa di Moscato’<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Gran Riservas are aged up to 18 months and include versions covered in barley malt and whiskey, Barolo, chestnut leaves, and maggengo\u2014spring\u2019s first-mown hay from Valcasotto\u2019s high pastures And, finally, there\u2019s the show-stopper, which is topped with concentric circles of grappa-soaked fruit. That\u2019s the one I dubbed, \u201cthe ultimate dessert cheese.\u201d It looks like a painstakingly crafted fruit tart and delivers strong yet balanced flavors with a background of sweetness.<\/p>\n

Chatting with Beppino\u2019s international marketing director, Andrea, about how they might sell more of these cheeses in the US, I suggested marketing them to specialty shops as unique and highly prized \u201cdessert cheeses\u201d. I was also thinking \u201ccheese as art\u201d, so I connected Occelli & Co. with artist Mike Geno<\/a>. If you have a hard time finding these gems in the US, you might catch a glimpse of them in Mike\u2019s paintings or consider joining us on a trip to Garessio and Valcasotto to experience them first-hand.<\/p>\n

\n

Anna Juhl’s company, Cheese Journeys<\/a>, takes turophiles around the world on unique experiences within the cheese world. Learn how she started <\/a>this incredible business and where she’s headed next<\/a>. Follow cheesejourneys<\/a> on Instagram to see all the action from Anna Juhl’s journeys.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this multi-part travelogue series, Anna Juhl, founder of Cheese Journeys, takes you deep into the world of cheese.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":32167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1767,1295,1606,1774,1773,1768,1772,1771,1769,1770],"coauthors":[1605],"class_list":["post-32161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-beppino-occelli","tag-bra-italy","tag-cheese-journeys","tag-crutin","tag-cusie","tag-dessert-cheeses","tag-gran-riserva","tag-italy-cheese","tag-mike-geno","tag-piedmont"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCheese Journeys: Passport to Valcasotto, Italy - culture: the word on cheese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-journeys-passport-garessio-italy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cheese Journeys: Passport to Valcasotto, Italy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this multi-part travelogue series, Anna Juhl, founder of Cheese Journeys, takes you deep into the world of cheese.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-journeys-passport-garessio-italy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"culture: the word on cheese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-15T18:00:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Occelli-cheese-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anna Juhl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anna Juhl\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-journeys-passport-garessio-italy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-journeys-passport-garessio-italy\/\",\"name\":\"Cheese Journeys: Passport to Valcasotto, Italy - 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