Robiola cheese a star in Piedmont

Robiola di Roccaverano Italian soft cheese is fighting to retain its traditional character amid a kind of culinary homogeny. The cheese comes exclusively from the northern Italian mountain town of Roccaverano in Piedmont. Even the goat producing the milk is protected.

Piedmont’s rolling green hills are covered with vineyards that boast the noble towns of Asti, Barbaresco, and Barolo. You can literally smell the sweetness of grapes just driving through the region before the fall harvest. Piedmont also boasts the white truffles of Alba, whose extravagance in flavor is met only by their extraordinary price.

The Robiola di Roccaverano is a perfect accompaniment to these regional foods. It’s a powerful, soft table cheese usually consumed fresh, although it may be aged. It’s formed in rounds 10-13 cm in diameter with variations due to the thermal conditions of its production. Similar cheeses are produced in the territories belonging to the Province of Asti and Alessandria and the Comune of Cartosio, but only the Robiola di Roccaverano remains pure. 

A product of unique surroundings

The special taste is attributed to its production in thermal conditions and its use of pure goat's milk from the isolated hillsides. The nearby town of Acqui Terme is known for its bubbling hot sulfur springs frequented by the ancient Romans for their curative properties. The soil of Roccaverano has similar mineral characteristics.

The Robiola di Roccaverano is made from the milk of goats that graze on hillsides encircling the town. The milk comes exclusively from one race of goats native to the town. Roccaverano sits at a height of 800 meters not too distant from the Ligurian Sea. In this unique, geographically isolated region of altitude and vegetation a special variety of foods is found.

Robiola di Roccaverano was first mentioned in manuscripts around the year 1000, although its origins are believed to date back to the ancient Celto-Ligurian farmers in the region. The protected area produced superior products that were easily traded with neighboring towns due to their rarity and high quality. Of particular renown were the goat’s milk cheeses. King Vittorio Emanuele II of Piedmont, credited with the unification of Italy in 1861, used to love to hunt and eat in this area because he appreciated the rare cuisine.  

Today the soft cheese is produced only in small numbers and is also exported to France and Switzerland. It’s regulated by the appropriate Italian and European Union authorities as DOP, Denominazione di Origine Protetta, which regulates its origin and production.