Specifics

Milk from sources other than our own farm is brought to the cheese dairy either at dawn on the mules of the shepherds or herders, or at about 10:00 a.m. in the Foundation’s truck. It is weighed upon arrival in order to judge how much cheese it will yield. Each lot is then sampled by our lab so that we can check the quality of the milk we are getting. Then, it is passed through a special mechanized filter to remove any foreign bodies that might have fallen in during milking or in transit. Next Page

Depending on the kind of cheese that will be produced, the milk is poured into stainless steel pipes and let flow naturally by the pull of gravity to the vats situated on the ground floor below. METSOVONE is produced all year round. PARMESAN during the warm months, from May to September. METSOVELLA in the Spring and Winter. GRAVIERA from the 20th of May till the 20th of July, when the sheep can graze freely in the area around Metsovo. GOAT CHEESE (Chevre) in Spring (April to May) when the goats are fed on the first tender leaves of holly. Next Page

The proportions of milk used for each of the cheeses produced by our dairy are roughly the following: CHEESE TYPE MILK SHEEP COW GOAT METSOVO PARMEZAN - 100% - SMOKED METSOVONE - 100-90% 0-10% METSOVELLA 80% 10% 10% METSOVO GRAVIERA 100% - - METSOVO CHEVRE (Goat Cheese) - - 100% The pasteurization, curdling and “breaking up” processes are carried out in vats. We use our own strain of culture starters for the curdling process. This is the flora of our dairy, and you will forgive us if we do not choose to reveal one of our basic secrets... Next Page

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After the milk has curdled and the curds have separated from the whey, each cheese then starts its own special process. For METSOVONE: (1) The cheese-maker passes the cloth (tsantila) under the curds that lie at the bottom of the vat. (2) He lifts out the cloth holding the curd mass and places it into a wooden tub, where it remains in a warm environment for a period of one hour. Next Page

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(3) Then, he performs a “rehearsal” (or “prova” in Italian, hence the cheese provolone.) He takes a piece of curd, plunges it in warm water and then kneads and stretches it. When he sees that it stretches without breaking, he knows that he can proceed. (4) He softens the curds in the basin with a large wooden paddle until they acquire a uniform consistency.fter the milk has curdled and the curds have separated from the whey, each cheese then starts its own special process. Next Page

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(5) He breaks off pieces from the main curd mass which he then wets with warm water and hand-kneads, giving them their oblong elastic shape. (6) He forces the oblong pieces into the metal molds in order to give them their final shape and, immerses these for 6-7 hours in a bath of cold water. Next Page

For the METSOVELLA, GRAVIERA and CHEVRE (Goat Cheese) varieties, the curds are moved in the “tsantila” straight to a wooden table and then into the molds while still warm. The cheeses are surrounded by the “hoops” of their metal molds and pressure is then applied by means of weights to remove excess moisture and give them their final shape. Next Page

With PARMESAN, both the vat and the process used are slightly different.The cow’s milk goes into a stainless steel, cone-shaped vat non-pasteurized. When the milk has curdled, and the curds are ready to be broken up, a mechanical curd-cutter is inserted that continuously turns round and round, breaking up the curd into very fine pieces, while stirring it to avoid lumping. In this way, as much water as possible is drawn out because good Parmesan must be extremely hard to achieve the richness of the components that give it its flavour. The pieces sink to the bottom of the vat that, as we mentioned above, is conical: wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, in order for the cheese to acquire its final shape immediately upon falling to the bottom of the vat. After the whey has been separated from the curds, the Parmesan is moved onto a large wooden table to cool. Finally, it is placed in its special wooden mold and a press applied so as to remove as much moisture as possible. A Parmesan wheel weighs between 25-27kg and requires 500kg of milk to produce. Next Page

.	Parmesan takes at least two years to ripen in the curing rooms. During the aging process, the original 40kg mass loses about another 15kg, as it expels more moisture in the process. Next Page

Salting is the next stage of the process for all the cheeses. METSOVONE is soaked in a brine bath (wt salting). The number of days kept in brine is exactly equivalent to the number of kilos it weighs (i.e. three days, three kilos). The cheese quickly absorbs the salt it requires. GRAVIERA undergoes dry salting. The cheese is rubbed with coarse-grained salt that it absorbs slowly. Salting lasts for many days, nearly a month, in order to provoke the special reactions that are needed to make the holes in the cheese. The so-called “propionic” fermentation produces carbon dioxide that is entrapped inside the curd mass, thereby creating the holes. METSOVELLA is first immersed in a brine bath for two days after which it is rubbed with coarse salt (mixed salting). With the CHEVRE variety (goat cheese), we season the curds with peppercorns before they are put in the molds. This is followed by wet salting. PARMESAN undergoes wet salting, remaining in a brine bath for 20-30 days. Next Page

When the cheeses are ready for ripening, they are wiped clean and sent to the curing rooms. METSOVONE cheeses are suspended by rope from the ceiling in order to hand without touching any surface. METSOVELLA and GRAVIERA are placed on wooden blocks while PARMESAN, which is heavy, is placed on stern wooden shelves. There are turned over regularly to ensure that the same side is not always resting on the wood. Cheeses such as METSOVONE, METOSVELLA and GRAVIERA, require three months(at the very least, two and a half) in order to ripen properly. During the last stage of maturation, METSOVONE is transferred to the smoke room to be cured. The cheeses are smoked over burning vine branches, aromatic leaves and hay. They remain in the room as long as necessary to acquire their characteristic smoky flavour. Time in the smoke room depends on size. METSOVONE passes through the hands of our cheese-makers 25 times. Next Page

Cheeses such as GRAVIERA and PARMESAN are brushed clean every two days to remove any mold that might have formed on the outside. The opposite is true for METSOVONE where the mold assists in the fermentation which gives it its particular flavour. You should see the way the cheese-maker brushes the cheeses, when curing is complete. It is as though he were bathing his own children! As Apostolis says: "Cheese needs to be caressed to be good..." |Next page| |Cheese| | Our Cheeses| |Milk|