Here, time seems to have stopped. As it was a hundred years ago, we use only rich creamy milk from our cows, chosen from among the best and fed with fresh, uncontaminated grass from our pastures during the summer that is then dried into sweet smelling hay for the winter. It is this unforgettable fragrance that yields the rich and bountiful milk that is so important in the art of cheese making.
Our grandparents already knew that every morning they would skim the cream that rose to the surface of the milk and make butter and tume cheese; they learned to mix their sweet thick milk with those more acidic, but still noble, from sheep and goats; they discovered the poetic marriage between their simple cheese and the precious truffles they found in the forest.
Overall, they knew the secrets of their great craft would be left with their children, that they would be whispered as fables during long winter nights, and carried to us.
Today, with the same love and passion, we hand make these traditional cheeses. They are also aged according to the ancient rules, in the same tuff cantinas, the temperature consistent and cool; the cheeses are gently placed one at a time on cheesecloth as we patiently wait for them to mature naturally. The packaging is also done only by hand and each individual cheese is placed in a jar and covered with pure extra virgin olive oil, or labeled, by expert hands that weigh them and verify that they are perfect.
For these reasons our production is limited, subject to the amount of milk the cows offer us, fair or stormy weather, the aging process, the time needed for the care and attention each piece requires. This is exactly our clock, along with the knowledge that we have actually exceeded the ability of our grandparents: their traditional production methods, their craftsmanship, and their wisdom. Today we have microbiological controls and qualitative controls for our milk that guarantee not only the quality and wholesomeness of our product, but also give us security that did not exist a hundred years ago.
This union between past and present, this rare fusion between ancient and modern, this respect for tradition while looking towards the future is what makes our business different from the others. Stability over time in light of changing trends is our strength and we want to continue to work with this substance and know-how.
