The Big Cheese - Mantua Italy

Destination/Italy

The big cheese The ancient Italian city of Mantua hides most of its treasures behind austere façades except for the one on display in delis and restaurants – its grana padano wo r ds & p h oto g r a p h s N i co l a e d m o n d s

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Luca Sarzi Amade, head of quality control at the factory, proudly walks me through the production process. He tells me the factory was established in 1929 and is now the second-largest producer of grana padano in Italy. Three hundredsecond-largest producer of grana padano in Italy.

Three hundred tonnes of milk arrive from member farms each day, which seems a lot of milk for what will eventually become just 450 wheels of cheese.tonnes of milk arrive from member farms each day, which seems a lot of milk for what will eventually become just 450 wheels of cheese.

the grana adds a toothsome texture to the chunks of gold melting on my tongue

Grana padano production process

After being skimmed of part of its cream, the raw milk is gently heated in large copper-lined baths. Giant metal oars (spinos) are used to paddle and turn the liquid until rice-sized grains start to form. These curds coalesce and the fledgling cheeses are then netted in large, sterile linen squares and hoisted aloft onto mobile steel hooks hanging from brackets above. Each bath yields two cheeses weighing, at this point, about 45kg each. The cheeses are then pressed into casings which stamp each rind with the date, dairy cooperative number, health certification and, most importantly, the hallowed G P initials.

There’s an air of the Turkish bathhouse in the salination tanks next door. The salty waters are three metres deep and, through a 20-day process of osmosis, draw out the moisture from inside the cheeses before they take their places on the storehouse shelves.

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THE BANK at the Latteria Sociale in Mantua, Italy, is no ordinary bank. It holds no gold bars, no bags of cash or wads of notes. Here at the dairy cooperative the currency is cheese and the room they call the bank is devoted to ripening huge wheels of Mantua’s most flavoursome asset. Filled with mushroomy, milky aromas, the room is like a savoury cocoon, its vast space stacked with golden orbs of grana padano – a regional specialty and one of Italy’s most famous cheeses.

Luca Sarzi Amade, head of quality control at the factory, proudly walks me through the production process. He tells me the factory was established in 1929 and is now the second-largest producer of grana padano in Italy.

Three hundred tonnes of milk arrive from member farms each day, which seems a lot of milk for what will eventually become just 450 wheels of cheese.

Nestled on the shelves of the ripening room, the cheeses are carefully monitored, brushed and turned as they evolve in flavour, complexity and value. After nine months the cheeses undergo a series of rigorous tests to check for maturity and consistency, including a special “beating” by an expert member of the Grana Padano Consortium of manufacturers. Luca demonstrates with a small silver hammer, tapping the surface of a wheel to listen for the required tightness. Those that make the grade are deemed fit to receive the DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) grana padano fire brand and be ready for sale, although many will be stored for between 12 and 20 months.

Grana padano is similar in style to parmigiano reggiano, or parmesan.

The main differences lie in the type of milk used, which is only partially skimmed for the making of grana padano, and the location of the cows that supply the milk. Padano refers to the River Po and these cows graze on land within five specific regions north of the river. There is much debate as to which cheese is the winner in the flavour stakes and I must wait until the next day to cast my vote at a long lunch at the Michelinstarred restaurant Fragoletta. I greedily gobble crumbling shards cut from 80 nzlifeandleisure .co.nz

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Luca Sarzi Amade, head of quality control at the factory, proudly walks me through the production process. He tells me the factory was established in 1929 and is now the second-largest producer of grana padano in Italy. Three hundredsecond-largest producer of grana padano in Italy. Three hundred tonnes of milk arrive from member farms each day, which seems a lot of milk for what will eventually become just 450 wheels of cheese.tonnes of milk arrive from member farms each

a wedge of 20-month-old Riserva. The cheese is alive with flavour but surprisingly light and sweet. Its characteristic graininess comes from crystals that are formed during the maturation process; the grana adds a toothsome texture to the chunks of gold melting on my tongue.

Fausto Turcato, director of the factory, explains that Italians regard this kind of cheese as “functional” food – a dairy equivalent of the energy bar. Doctors recommend it to young mothers as a first food for their infants, and the elderly of this region ascribe much of their longevity to its health-giving properties. In lieu of salt, they slather it across everything in sight.

The homely scents of the surrounding farmland sometimes waft into Mantua but the city itself breathes an elegantly coiffed air of self-contained content. The streets are lined with plain building façades in muted shades of autumn. It’s typical of northern Italy, I’m told, to reserve ornamentation for the interior. The Ducal Palace is a good example. Built at the height of its power by the Gonzaga family, its red-brick ramparts dominate the city skyline, austere and unadorned. Inside, though, there are metres of jaw-dropping frescoed galleries, stuffed with an incredible array of artwork. The palace was begun in the 14th century and finished in the 17th. One rather dour local tells me nothing much has happened since and his view is perhaps shared by UNESCO, which has bestowed World Heritage Site status on the city’s well-preserved historic centre.

According to Shakespeare, lovesick Romeo fled to Mantua following his exile from Verona – perhaps following his tastebuds to the wonderful flavours on offer. The city is still famed for dishes of medieval origin and specialities include the glass jars of jewel-coloured mostarda di frutta (fruits preserved in a mustardflavoured syrup) which line shop windows alongside stacks of the flat crumble cake sbrisolona. The prolific pumpkins of the Mantuan area feature in tortelli di zucca, a delicate pasta stuffed with sweet roasted pumpkin, grana padano cheese and crumbled amaretti biscuits.

Luca Sarzi Amade, head of quality control at the factory, proudly walks me through the production process. He tells me the factory was established in 1929 and is now the second-largest producer of grana padano in Italy. Three hundredsecondlargest producer of grana padano in Italy. Three hundred tonnes of milk arrive from member farms each day, which seems a lot of milk for what will eventually become just 450 wheels of cheese. tonnes of milk arrive from member farms each day, which seems a lot of milk for what will eventually become just 450 wheels of cheese.

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NOTEBOOK How to get there: Mantua, described by Aldous Huxley as the most romantic city in the world, is located in the south-east corner of the Lombardy region of Italy, about 200km from Milan. Most airlines offer routes from Auckland or Wellington to Milan, the nearest major airport. Travelling from Milan by car can be challenging, even for those with local knowledge.

Alternatively, there are nine daily trains or, if you have the time, fly to Nice in France (as I did) and make the four-and-a-half-hour scenic drive along the Ligurian coastline and inland.

When to go: Hate them or love them, the infamous fogs of the Lombardy region begin to roll in during September and October. As with most of Italy though, these months, along with May and June, offer both warm weather and a reprieve from the crowds.

Where to stay: Agriturismo Corte Virgiliana cortevirgiliana.it The Valenti Gonzaga Palace. Rooms are set within a 17th-century palace, now restored as a museum, or choose to stay in the converted cellars in what was once the lodge of the secret revolutionary society Carbonari. Do make time for the wonderfully flamboyant host, Professor Alfonso Linardi. His guided tour is an essential part of the experience! valentigonzaga.com 84 nzlifeandleisure .co.nz

Where to eat: Trattoria Due Cavallini Ask to try some of Giovanni’s excellent home-made Nocino (walnut) liqueur after dinner. trattoriaduecavallinimantova.it Fragoletta fragoletta.it Salumeria Giovanni Bacchi. An authentic example of the typical Italian deli and a great place to sample the Mantuan version of mostarda, a delicious sweet and spicy Italian preserve. Via Orefici, 16 Visit: The Abbey of Chiaravalle.

A wander through the beautiful monastery and gardens, just south of Milan, is a wonderful way to while away an afternoon or to walk off a long lunch. The monastery shop also sells home-made produce from the area. Via Sant’Arialdo, 102

Cheese making predates even the Gonzaga family in this region.

The accidental birth of grana padano is claimed to have occurred within the grounds of the serenely beautiful Abbey of Chiaravalle.

Pastures here were reclaimed from a swamp by Cistercian monks in the 12th century. The unpromising hinterland of the abbey, once drained, proved to be immensely fertile and the monks found themselves with more milk than they knew what to do with. The excess supply of fresh cheese was left in storage where it ripened into what is now known as grana padano.

These days there are even breeds of cow devoted especially to the production of milk for this cheese. Ferdinando Boccalari grazes the sweet-natured Italian Holsteins on the pastures of the Corte Virgiliana, a short drive from Mantua. Ferdinando is the fourth generation of his family to farm this land which takes its name from the great Roman poet Virgil who was born here in 70BC. In more recent times the Gonzaga family built a sprawling 11th-century inn, the medieval equivalent of Italy’s ubiquitous Autogrills, for travellers in need of fresh horses and a bite to eat. The theme of hospitality continues today, bestowed upon guests of the farm’s agriturismo (farm stay) business. Ferdinando’s wife Nicoletta bustles briskly up the winding marble staircase each morning to deliver a breakfast basket to a little stool set outside each room. Within are fresh pastries, home-made preserves and a rubber-stoppered glass bottle of milk straight from the source.

Cooperative member farms send their milk to the Latteria Sociale and happily some of the resulting cheese is destined for New Zealand and the tables of food lovers who will grate it over spaghetti, toss it through risotto or nibble it with a glass of fine wine – all perfectly good ways to savour a cheese that was invented by monks and served at the palace of Gonzaga.

Nicola was hosted by Europeanfood which supplies Latteria Sociale Grana Padano cheese in New Zealand

Luca Sarzi Amade, head of quality control at the factory, proudly walks me through the production process. He tells me the factory was established in 1929 and is now the second-largest producer of grana padano in Italy. Three hundredsecond-largest producer of grana padano in Italy. Three hundred tonnes of milk arrive from

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