taleggio

The Val Taleggio cuts north from the city of Bergamo into the Orobie Alps in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. Merchants were trading a local washed-rind cheese from this valley by at least the 10th century; a document from around 900 CE records transactions involving a cheese identified with the valley. The practice of washing the rind with brine, which prevents unwanted mold while encouraging the characteristic orange-pink crust, was already established at this early date. The cheese took the valley's name directly.

The name Taleggio is entirely geographic, derived from the place name Val Taleggio, which itself has uncertain pre-Roman origins. The valley was known for cattle herding in the Alpine tradition: cows moved to high summer pastures and returned to the valley floor in autumn. Autumn was when cheesemaking intensified, and the cheeses from that season were aged through winter. Medieval merchants carried them down to Bergamo and on to Milan, where the soft, pungent wheels sold well.

By the 19th century, production had expanded beyond the original valley into adjacent areas of Bergamo and Brescia provinces. Industrial-scale production began in the 20th century, with cheese factories replacing artisan caves. Taleggio received DOP protection in 1996, which defined the production zone as parts of Lombardy, Piedmont, and Veneto. The regulation also codified the washing schedule: each wheel must be washed with seawater or brine solution every seven to ten days during aging.

The fully aged wheel is square, about 20 centimeters on a side, with a thin washed rind ranging from pink to orange-brown. The interior paste is creamy and soft, with a pungent smell and a mild, buttery taste. Despite its strong aroma, taleggio is one of the milder washed-rind cheeses in the European tradition. The name is pronounced by Italian speakers with four even syllables; English speakers routinely stress the second: ta-LEG-gio.