Silter d'Alpeggio
Silter
Silter is a Celtic word and it names the place the cheese was aged, a shilter, often cut into the rock and finished off in brick with a vaulted roof. Lombard cheesemaking descends from the Celts, who are reckoned the fathers of it across northern Italy, although the name itself is only documented from the 17th century. The cheese is built for ageing and is made all year, on the alpeggi in summer and at the winter stations below.
Designation
- Certification
- Slow Food Presidium
- Category
- Cheeses
Where it is made
upper Val Camonica and the upper Sebino Bresciano
How it is made
Always raw milk, mostly from Bruna Alpina cows with some Pezzata Rossa and Grigio Alpina; out at grass in the warm months, indoors in winter on fodder with a little grain and legume. The Presidium version takes milk from animals actually grazing, mountain or valley, from more than one milking, skimmed after the cream has risen of itself; the cream goes to butter.