Valle d'Aosta Fromadzo 
Valle d'Aosta Fromadzo is a PDO cheese made across the Valle d'Aosta region of Italy from cow's milk, sometimes with a little goat's milk. Young wheels taste fragrant and half sweet, while long aging turns them salty and almost sharp.
Key Facts
| Country of Origin | Italy |
| Specific Origin | Valle d’Aosta region |
| Protection | PDO (1996), DOP (1996) |
| Milk Type | Primarily cow’s milk, small quantity of goat’s milk permitted |
| Milk Treatment | Skimmed |
| Fat Content | Semi-fat or low-fat |
| Rind | Straw-yellow to gray with a reddish cast |
| Texture | Firm |
| Flavor | Mild to pronounced and pungent |
| Aroma | Milky fragrance, mountain flowers and grasses if produced in summer |
| Colors | Ivory to yellow after aging |
| Forms | Cylindrical, 6–12 inches diameter, 2–8 inches high, 2–15 pounds weight |
| Age | 60 days to 10 months |
| Rennet Type | Calf’s rennet |
| Alternative Spellings | Vallée d'Aoste Fromadzo (French) |
What is Valle d'Aosta Fromadzo Cheese?
Fromadzo is the word for cheese in the Valdostan patois. In 1902 the cheese was recorded as fromage maigre et fromage commun, a lean and ordinary cheese. Today it carries a Protected Designation of Origin, and the production area covers the whole autonomous region of Valle d'Aosta.
It is made from cow's milk drawn from at least two milkings, sometimes with a minimal percentage of goat's milk, from herds fed mainly on local fresh or dried forage. For the semi-fat type the milk rests 12 to 24 hours; for the low-fat type it rests 24 to 36 hours. Coagulation happens at 34 to 36 degrees C using the spontaneous development of the dairy microflora, with natural rennet and sometimes an inoculum of local lactic ferments.
After the curd is cut, the temperature is raised to a maximum of 45 degrees C. The mass goes into molds called feitchie in the local dialect, may be lightly pressed, and is turned three or four times in 24 hours. Salting is done dry or in brine, the dry method running on alternate days at first and spreading out over 20 to 30 days. Wheels are cleaned with a cloth soaked in salted water and ripened at 8 to 14 degrees C with relative humidity of at least 60 percent.
Wheels weigh between 1 and 7 kilograms, roughly 2 to 15 pounds. Fat content runs from under 20 percent to 35 percent. The taste is fragrant and half sweet when the cheese is fresh, lightly salty and almost sharp once aged. Some wheels are flavored during production with juniper berries, cumin seeds or wild fennel seeds.
Aging lasts from a minimum of 60 days up to 8 to 10 months. Short-aged Fromadzo is eaten as a table cheese. The long-aged version is sometimes grated.
How Does Valle d'Aosta Fromadzo Cheese Compare?
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