Produced in the border area between Liguria, Piedmont and Provence from Brigasca sheep’s milk, Toma di pecora brigasca is a Slow Food Presidium supported by the Region of Liguria.
An exquisite cheese made using techniques and tools linked to the age-old tradition of transhumance by a few passionate producers who often work under difficult conditions.
Find out more in our news!
Friends of Pesto Fresco, our journey among the Slow Food Presidia of Liguria continues, and in this news we want to tell you about Toma di pecora brigasca.
Brigasca derives from La Brigue, a French village in Val Roya known for having been in past centuries the most important pastoral center in the entire border area between Liguria, Piedmont, and Provence.
Think that La Brigue over time has been French, then Italian, and then French again.
Brigasco, a dialect understood in both France and Italy, has always been spoken here and is descended from the ancient language of Oc.
The Brigasque Sheep
The Brigasca sheep is indigenous and most likely originated from the frabosana strain.
It is hardy, endowed with muscular limbs and strong, dark claws suitable for grazing in inaccessible areas.
In fact, traditional breeding involves a period of seven to eight months in alpine pasture and about four months in bandia, the coastal area where the mild climate allows outdoor grazing to be maintained even in the winter months.
This breed of sheep was a primary source of income for small local communities, and chronicles tell of disputes over ownership of the best pastures.
The establishment of political and administrative boundaries in 1947 made it more difficult to move livestock, and there was an initial decline in herd numbers.
The depletion of livestock has had very negative effects on the landscape, as well as on the economy of these mountainous areas.
By the beginning of the 20th century, 60,000 cattle were being raised in the entire brigasca range.
Today little remains of the ancient flocks. About 1,800 head still graze in Liguria, particularly in the border areas, and 800 are raised in the French Val Roya.
Toma di pecora brigasca: how it is produced
Specifically, on the Italian territory, Toma di pecora brigasca is produced in the province of Imperia and in some municipalities in the province of Savona and Cuneo.
This special cheese with an irregular square shape, also known as Sora, is made from the milk of the Brigasca sheep and with techniques and tools related to the thousand-year tradition of transhumance.
Rennet is added to the milk from the evening milking added to the morning milk.
After coagulation, the curd is broken with the rubatà, the classic wooden spino, and allowed to settle.
With a coarse cloth (raireura) the clot is collected and formed into a kind of bundle on which a large stone is placed.
Fears are born this way: after about 12 hours, the mass is removed from the cloth and cut into many squares.
Sea salt is used to salt the tomes, which are then placed to mature in cool places on wooden boards for a minimum of 60 days.
But it is not finished! Whey is recovered from cheesemaking and, by bringing it to a temperature close to boiling, a ricotta cheese is produced that, if left to ferment for at least 10 days, becomes brus.
Toma di pecora brigasca: the Slow Food Presidium
The Presidium is supported by the Region of Liguria, which wants to promote the Brigasca breed raised in the few remaining mountain pastures on the watershed that marks the border with France.
It also wants to support the crucial role of herders in protectingand preserving the natural environment.
The Presidium wants to help producers improve working conditions, who are forced to move grazing flocks in often difficult situations.
Have you been familiar with the Brigasca Sheep Toma cheese? Have you eaten it?
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Source and photo: fondazioneslowfood.com