Salva cheese from
Crema
Crema or Cremas may refer to:
Crema
* Crema, Lombardy, a ''comune'' in the northern Italian province of Cremona
* Crema (coffee), a thin layer of foam at the top of a cup of espresso
* Crema (dairy product)
Crema is the Spanish word for cream. I ...
is a
PDO table cow's milk
cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
made with raw
curd
Curd is obtained by coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet or any edible acidic substance such as lemon ...
. It is a
washed-rind cheese
Washed-rind or smear-ripened cheeses are cheeses which are periodically treated with brine or mold-bearing agents. This encourages the growth of certain bacteria on their surface which give them distinctive flavors. There are hard and soft washed- ...
that undergoes a medium or long
aging
Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In ...
period.
Salva is traditionally eaten in the central plain of
Lombardy
Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
and produced particularly in the area of
Crema
Crema or Cremas may refer to:
Crema
* Crema, Lombardy, a ''comune'' in the northern Italian province of Cremona
* Crema (coffee), a thin layer of foam at the top of a cup of espresso
* Crema (dairy product)
Crema is the Spanish word for cream. I ...
,
Bergamo
Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...
, and
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...
.
It is also produced in the provinces of
Lecco
Lecco (, , ; lmo, label=Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco''). ...
,
Lodi, and
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. Salva has many similarities to
Quartirolo, though differs from it by having longer aging and a major aromatic complexity.
Origin of the name
Salva's name comes from the idea of ("saving the milk"), which is the tradition of saving the plentiful
milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...
left over from the process of cheesemaking in spring, which is then used to produce Salva cheese. It is also called Salva cremasco (literally, "Salva from Crema") because of its origin and traditional consumption in Crema, although today it is more often produced elsewhere.
History
Its origins date back to the 17th and 18th centuries, when it becomes possible to identify the
parallelepiped
In geometry, a parallelepiped is a three-dimensional figure formed by six parallelograms (the term ''rhomboid'' is also sometimes used with this meaning). By analogy, it relates to a parallelogram just as a cube relates to a square. In Euclidea ...
profile of Salva on some decorative
truckle
A truckle of cheese is a cylindrical wheel of cheese, usually taller than it is wide, and sometimes described as barrel-shaped. The word is derived from the Latin ''trochlea'', 'wheel, pulley'. Truckles vary greatly in size, from the wax-coated ch ...
s. These truckles were straw-white in color and had a thin crust and very rare
eyes
Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conve ...
(called ''occhiature''), also associated with modern Salva cheese.
Salva is closely connected with the seasonal
transhumance
Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower vall ...
that ''bergamini'' (shepherds from Bergamo) undertook with their cows, coming down from the valleys of Bergamo and Brescia towards farms in the lowlands in autumn, and returning to the valleys in spring. During these trips the cows produced more milk than could be consumed, particularly in spring, necessitating its transformation into ''strachì da Salva'' cheese so that it could be preserved in summer. It seems that warlord
Bartolomeo Colleoni
Bartolomeo Colleoni (; 1400 – 2 November 1475) was an Italian condottiero, who became captain-general of the Republic of Venice. Colleoni "gained reputation as the foremost tactician and disciplinarian of the 15th century".''Websters New ...
enjoyed this cheese so much he had some truckles delivered to him during his military inspection of Crema's fortifications.
Production
Full-cream pasteurized milk is used in Salva production. Its
coagulation
Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a blood clot. It potentially results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The mechanism o ...
at lasts 30 minutes. The curd is then chopped twice into very small pieces. Finally, the bulky mass is put in a damp location for 8–16 hours. Aging lasts either 3–5 months (in this case the product has an aromatic and fragrant flavour), or 8–12 months. There are rare truckles aged up to 36 months. Sometimes the crust is flavoured with
pomace
Pomace ( ), or marc (; from French ''marc'' ), is the solid remains of grapes, olives, or other fruit after pressing for juice or oil. It contains the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems of the fruit.
Grape pomace has traditionally been used to prod ...
.
Salva truckles have a parallelepiped shape with a plain squared side or long, and a straight bowed side long. The average truckle weighs . The crust is washed with water and salt. Cheeses aged for a longer time are oiled. In the past,
linseed oil
Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...
was used for this purpose. In this way some yellow mildew builds up, penetrating the crust and increasing the flavour.
The cheeses are typically branded with the capital letters S and C.
On 21 November 2002,
the consortium for the safeguard of the Salva Cremasco was established, and Salva was granted
Protected Designation of Origin
The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...
status due to its uniqueness and traditional method of production.
Uses
Salva and ''tighe''
The most typical preparation of Salva in the Crema area is ''Salva con le tighe'' (Salva with
pickled
Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects the food's texture and flavor. The resulting food is called ...
green Lombard peppers). The Salva is cut in little cubes and served with ''tighe'' cut into large strips without seeds, and a small amount of
olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...
. The combination is left to rest before consumption according to taste; it is thought too much oil makes the cheese macerate.
Other preparations
Salva can be used in a variety of dishes from starters to desserts, and from first to second courses.
See also
*
List of Italian cheeses
:''This page lists more than 1,000 types of Italian cheese but is still incomplete; you can help by expanding it.''
This is an article of Italian cheeses. Italy is the country with the highest variety of cheeses in the world, with over 2500 tradit ...
Notes
Bibliography
* ''Mangià Nustrà'', a cura di Daniela Bianchessi e Roberta Schira, Grafin, s.d.
* ''Ricettario tradizionale di Cremona, Crema, Casalmaggiore, ''a cura di Marta Bergamaschi, Umberto Soncini Editore.
* ''Sapori cremaschi, ricette dalla cucina di Crema, ''raccolte da Marzia Ermentini.
* ''Ricette da salvare, ''a cura di Consorzio Tutela Salva Cremasco.
{{Italian cheeses
Cow's-milk cheeses
Cheeses with designation of origin protected in the European Union
Italian products with protected designation of origin
Ark of Taste foods
Lombard cheeses