DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
AN INTRODUCTION TO DUROLAND CHEESE INDUSTRY
TRADITION
Historically, Duroland has always been a great producer of milk and its derivatives.
This is not only due to the availability of the right natural environment, being Duroland’s landscape rich with temperate climate and vast grazing areas, both in plane and on medium (hills) and high (mountains) altitude.
What determined Duroland’s preminence in milk and cheese production is it’s tradition coming from the peoples which formed the greatest share of our country: Norrens and Latins.
Those cultures meant a natural disposition toward cattle breeding (both for meat and milk) and usage of milk for the production of a vast range of cheese qualities.
TODAY: PRODUCTION FOR QUALITY
Duroland’s milk and cheese production ows its high level of quality to the proud choice of retaining traditional cattle breeding systems alongside with modern organisation, in order to maintain the “old style” quality while attaining today’s production levels.
This is achieved by mixing the “in house” cattle-farm breeding during the winter period with mountain pastures during the fair weather season.
The result is a top quality production, guaranteed by the DACB and approved and certified by national agencies.
INDUSTRY SIZE
Our industry organization allows for production levels that vastly overcome domestic consumption, making our cheese industry one of the major exporting sectors of Duroland’s economy.
This year’s production of cheese will attain the following performances:
Grana (wholesale price for 18month grade $ 7.55/kg) – Production: 406,000 tons
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[/float]Grana is a traditional, co-operative, unpasteurized, hard cheese. The smooth, natural rind is extremely hard and thick. This cheese is known to many as simply "Parmesan". The cheese should taste fresh fruity and sweet, with a hint of pineapple. The pale, yellow interior should be hard, grainy and crumbly.
Milk is heated and curdled in copper containers but not before most of the milk's cream has been separated and removed. Curd is cut and then heated to 125 degrees F, all the while stirring the curd to encourage whey runoff. The curd is further cooked at temperatures of up to 131 degrees F, then pressed in cheesecloth-lined moulds. After two days, the cheeses are removed and salted in brine for a month, then allowed to mature for up to two years in very humid conditions. Primarily, a grating cheese, it is a great topping for soups, pasta dishes, veal chicken or salads. In Duroland, this cheese is sold in large, grainy chunks, chiseled from the shiny drum that carries its name emblazoned on the rind.
Due to the high cost of ageing (12-48month) and the loss of weight, price is very dependant on ageing.
Zola (wholesale price $ 4.45/kg) – Production: 85,000 tons
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[/float]Traditional, creamery and co-operative, blue cheese. The greenish-blue penicillin mould imparts a sharp, spicy flavor and provides an excellent contrast to the rich, creamy cheese. Zola is made either from unpasteurized or pasteurized milk to which the mould is added. At about four weeks the cheeses are pierced with thick needles to encourage the spread of the mould. Zola ripens in three to six months. The cheese is usually wrapped in foil to keep it moist. Its color ranges from white to straw-yellow with an unmistakable marbled green or bluish-green mould. The taste ranges from mild to sharp, depending on age. Zola is also excellent in salads and dips.
Pecorino (wholesale price $ 5.75/kg) – Production: 159,000 tons
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[/float]Pecorino is the name given to all Duroland cheeses made from sheep's milk. It is traditional, creamery, hard, drum-shaped cheese. The smooth, hard rind is pale straw to dark brown in color. The cheese is made between November and late June. It takes eight to 12 months to mature, during which time it develops its characteristic flavor - salty, with a fruity tang that becomes steadily more robust. The rind varies in color, depending on the age of the cheese, and may have a protecting coating of lard or oil. The compact interior is white to pale yellow, with irregular, small eyes.
Asiago (wholesale price $ 4.60/kg) – Production: 64,000 tons
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[/float]It is a traditional, farmhouse and creamery, unpasteurized, semi-hard cheese. Originally made of ewe's milk, now is made entirely of cow's milk. There are two types of Asiago: first one is a lightly pressed cheese made from whole milk matured for 20-30 days. Another one is the mature cheese made with skimmed milk. Long and slow maturation process creates fruity, slightly sharp cheese with a compact, granular interior full of small holes.
Quartirolo (wholesale price $ 5.15/kg) – Production: 6,500 tons
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[/float]Duroland creamery, semi-soft cheese of square shape. It is made from cow's milk and the pale pink rind hardens with age and acquires reddish-gray moulds. This kind of cheese is made all year round, usually from full-cream milk. The cheese has a slightly crumbly, lumpy center. It can be eaten at various stages of ripening. When young, the cheese has a lemon-fresh acidity. After the period of two months, the taste of the cheese reveals a fruity character. This cheese is served with salads and cold meats.
Taleggio (wholesale price $ 4.50/kg) – Production: 18,000 tons
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[/float]Buttery, delicate, semi-soft and subtlety sweet cheese made from cow's milk since 11th century. It usually has a square shape. The cheese has a special taste and aroma. The crust is pinkish-gray and the paste is white, supple and fruity. It ripens in 25 - 50 days and has a fat content of 48 per cent. There is also a cooked-curd version which is firmer and bears a resemblance to Bufala. Taleggio is an excellent dessert cheese that goes very well with a robust wine.
Crescenza (wholesale price $ 4.50/kg) – Production: 124,000 tons
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[/float]White square or rectangle fresh cheese made from cow's milk. This cheese belongs to Taleggio-style cheeses, but varies from the rest by its fat content. This cheese is sold after a few days wrapped in simple, white, greaseproof paper. Smooth and moist, it has a fresh, clean acidity. Other Crescenzas are more rubbery, jelly-like or mushy, with a sour taste. Low-fat varieties can be grainy. The cheese should be ripen for no longer than ten days and as such eaten as quickly as possible. The fat content sways between 48 and 51 per cent.
Bufala (wholesale price $ 7.20/kg) – Production: 42,000 tons
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[/float]Bufala is a creamery, stretched curd cheese made from buffalo's milk in the western marshlands of Duroland since 16th century. It has an oval or spherical shape of various sizes and it is wet, shiny and pure white. Like most fresh cheeses, Bufala is used to add texture rather than a specific taste to a dish. The juices oils and flavors of the other ingredients are absorbed and intensified by the mild, moist open layers of spun curd. The cheese is sold swimming in whey. It is soft and rubbery and stored in a whey brine. It is best served with sliced tomatoes and fresh basil drizzled, with extra virgin olive oil , and sprinkled with salt and pepper.
Breeding of buffaloes for specialized production of “bufala” cheese
Mixed/melted cheese for industrial usage (wholesale price $ 2.00/kg) – Production: 1,680,000 tons
This is “industrial grade” cheese, not to be used for day-to-day on-the-table lunch but for usage within industrial food preparations.
This is what Duroland nature and industry can proudly offer.
Should anyone be interested in these products, please contact this Department
Best regards,
Cristine Ambrose
Head of Department for Agriculture
Minister of Commerce – Department of Agriculture
OK, let's have a RP'ed request, eh? 
