Chef Lippe - Formai de Mut, Alt Val Brembana. Bergamo, Italy

For centuries, Formai de Mut from the Upper Brembana Valley has been the classic type of cheese produced in the Brembo mountain pastures. The term "Formai de Mut", translated from the dialect of Bergamo, literally means “mountain cheese”, specifically indicating the mountain pastures at an altitude of between 4265 and 8202 feet, where the cows traditionally graze in the summer. In the Upper Brembana Valley, the cool climate, the plentiful water, and extensive pastures rich in aromatic plants offer the ideal conditions for the production and transformation of milk. The summer mountain pasture cheese offers aromas that are difficult to find in the products made at other times of the year. Each year no more than 1500 forms are produced in the mountain pastures, each weighing 8/12 kilos. This niche product is appreciated by connoisseurs who order the cheese from one year to the next. From as early as the beginning of the twentieth century, all the cheese production of the Upper Valley was called “mountain cheese”.in 1996 it was awarded Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).