{"id":1281,"date":"2022-05-04T11:02:39","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T09:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.noratech.it\/vallibitto\/calecc\/"},"modified":"2023-08-03T21:04:49","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T19:04:49","slug":"calecc","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/storicoribelle.com\/en\/calecc\/","title":{"rendered":"Cal\u00e9cc"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cal\u00e9cc<\/h1>\n

Alpine pasture<\/span><\/h2>\n
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In the Save Heritage Bitto Union\u2019s alpine pastures, grazing is done in rotation on different sections of land: each pasture is divided in stations. In the past each station was fenced off with stone walls, called barech , still visible in many valleys.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nowadays portable fences are used. Within the stations we find the cal\u00e9cc, primitive square structures of about 4 x 4 m, made of low stone walls.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the start of summer, the herds are taken to the first station of the pasture, at 1400m. The station\u2019s cal\u00e9cc is covered with a temporary roof structure. Until the early 1900s the roof was made of wooden planks or home made woollen blankets, called pal\u00f2rsc. Now the roof is normally made of a waterproof cover supported by wooden beams.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"alpeggio<\/p>\n

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Itinerant processing place<\/span><\/h3>\n
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The cal\u00e9cc is accessed through a side opening, usually protected by a wooden gate to keep the animals out. Inside, the cal\u00e8cc is divided into two areas: one side where the farmers can sleep and one where the Storico cheese is made.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to the cal\u00e9cc, the farmers can stay close to the herds and can start the cheesemaking process directly onsite, right after milking. In the cheesemaking part of the cal\u00e9cc, next to the hearth, there is always a copper \u201cculdera\u201d or cauldron, as well as other equipment (buckets, rope, skimmers, gar\u00f2cc [containers] for masch\u00e8rpa , Spresun). All this equipment is carried from one cal\u00e9cc to another throughout the pasture\u2019s stations. To this day, equipment is still carried by hand or with the aid of animals.<\/span><\/p>\n

A cal\u00e9cc is used for as long as the animals are in one station, then the herd and the farmers move to the next station. Each station is at a higher altitude than the previous until, at high summer, the highest station and the last cale\u00e9cc are used.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"lavorazione<\/p>\n

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From past to present<\/span><\/h2>\n
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The cal\u00e9cc is an interesting organizational system for the alpine activities, but it is also an historical site: it\u2019s a \u201cfossil\u201d of primitive construction models that, although more common in the past, are still utilised today for the production of Heritage \u201cStorico\u201d cheese of the Bitto valley.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cal\u00e9cc of the \u201cStorico\u201d rebels has become one of the symbols of the dairy resistance to a system that wants to ratify even the pastures!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"bitto<\/p>\n

“Along the road, the traditional cal\u00e8cc millennial stone structures where cheese is produced serve as itinerant dairies, so that the milk doesn\u2019t need to travel more than a few meters and can be worked whilst it\u2019s still naturally warm”<\/i><\/h2>\n
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– Piero Sardo, Slow Food Theater Milano EXPO (2 May 2015)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

FIND OUT MORE<\/h5>\n