Storico , or Heritage cheese of Bitto valley, is an alpine cheese made with raw milk and produced in many locations on the Orobic Alps. When mature, the cheese is round and regular in shape, with a diameter of 40/50 cm, and a height of 9/12cm. Each cheese weighs between 9 and 20 kg. The cheese is tough and can be white or yellow, depending on the level of ripening. The cheese has few small round holes in it.
The production phases follow the local tradition and environmental factors, and generally go from the first of June to the 30th of September.
The freshly milked cow’s milk is added to fresh goat’s milk (10-20%).The goat’s milk comes exclusively from Orobic goats (a rare native breed at risk of extinction) and is used raw, immediately after milking, in the “calècc” (itinerant dairy).
The raw milk has microbiological characteristics that vary according to climate, environment and animal nutrition. The rules for the production of heritage cheese of Bitto valley prohibit the use of probiotics (cultures of starter bacteria) when making the cheese, as well as prohibiting the use of feeds and silage for cows and goats. These rules ensure that the special quality of mountain milk is preserved.