Formaggio di Fossa di Sogliano

Appearance & taste

After ripening the wheels weigh 500 to 1,900 g and are irregular in shape, with dents and bulges. The surface is ivory-white to amber-yellow, usually moist and greasy, with fine cracks and sometimes ochre-yellow patches; it may be covered with fat that has seeped out or with noble mould, both of which rub off easily. A rind is barely formed or not at all: rind and paste merge into each other, so the cheese is eaten whole. The semi-hard paste is crumbly and amber-white to straw-yellow. The fat content in dry matter is at least 32 %.

The smell is long-lasting, at times intense, with woodland aromas and notes of mould and truffle. The specification describes the taste according to the milk: the sheep’s milk cheese (“Pecorino”) is aromatic and slightly sharp, the cow’s milk cheese (“Vaccino”) delicate, slightly salty and tangy with a slight bitter note, the mixed-milk cheese (“Misto”) balanced between savoury and sweet with a note of bitter almond.

The logo shows, in red on straw-yellow, a stylised pit of sandstone blocks with wheels of cheese and in the middle a small elephant, the coat of arms of the Malatesta. The label states the type of milk, where applicable “da latte crudo” (from raw milk), and ripening in spring (PRM) or summer (EST).

Production

The milk comes from cows of the Frisona Italiana, Bruna Alpina, Pezzata Rossa and Jersey breeds and from sheep of the Sarda, Comisana, Massese, Vissana, Cornella Bianca, Fabrianese, Delle Langhe, Pinzirita, Lacaune and Assaf breeds and their crosses. The animals eat grass and legumes from meadows and pastures of the region, as green fodder or hay; concentrates are limited to 30 % of the daily ration, silage is prohibited. Raw or pasteurised whole milk from two milkings is processed, without additives; the mixed-milk cheese contains at most 80 % cow’s milk and at least 20 % sheep’s milk.

What makes it special is ripening in pits. Beforehand they are opened, aired and cleaned with fire and smoke by burning some wheat straw. A raised grid of untreated boards is placed on the floor so that the fatty liquid produced during fermentation can drain off; the walls are lined with at least 10 cm of wheat straw. The cheeses are then stacked in cloth sacks up to the opening; topping up is allowed within ten days at most. The opening is closed with cloths or straw and a wooden lid and sealed with plaster or mortar. The pit stays closed during the 80 to 100 days. Because paste and rind are no longer separate afterwards and the moist, fatty cheese dries out easily, it is packed in the area, including in portions, for example in the ripening sack or vacuum-packed.

Origin & history

The area lies at the foot and on the hills of the Apennines between Romagna and the Marche. The pits lie in a formation of yellowish to yellowish-brown, poorly consolidated sandstones in layers of 30 cm to about 1 m, alternating with thin layers of grey marly clay.

According to the specification, pit ripening arose in the Middle Ages between the valleys of the Rubicone and the Marecchia as far as the Esino. The pits were cut into the sandstone rock to preserve supplies and hide them from raids; the custom became so common that strict rules were issued for it. The first records date from the 14th century, from the archives of the Malatesta family, the lords of the area at the time; in 1350 they set up the “Compagnia dell’Abbondanza”. During sieges, epidemics and famines, the pits served to store and hide grain and other food and to ripen cheese. The knowledge of the pit operators is passed down from generation to generation.