Name
Sola (Sora or Soera)
Seal of quality
Typical food-farming product (PAT)
Description
Sola (Sora or Soera) is a semi-matured or matured cheese, with a semi-soft texture, which is produced in the Southern part of the Province of Cuneo between the Mondovi and Cuneo zones. It is made using both sheep’s and goat’s milk that are normally not mixed together. The weight of the cheeses are variable, they are usually of non-perfectly squared shape, but with rounded sides, as in the past (and still today) it was formed using a hemp cloth known as “Rairola” therefore without the use of any rigid moulds. On the pressing of the curd in the cloth a form of vaguely squared shape is obtained with a variable weight of between 2 and 4 kg.
The cheese texture features slight slits, it is soft and white in colour, with a mild taste, the rind is a nice pale yellow colour in those cheeses made with sheep’s cheese, with a tendency to a more ivory shade in those cheeses made using goat’s milk. Sola was traditionally made by heating raw full-cream cow’s milk to a temperature of approximately 34 – 36 °C adding the rennet. After about 30 minutes the curd is broken. After a short interval a new breakage is made, so that it becomes the size of a hazel-nut. The mass is collected in a cloth that is wrapped around the cheese and then lifted with a weight of about 12 hours. On the removal of the cloth the cheese has been dry salted. The cheese is then left to mature at a temperature of about 10 °C for 1 – 3 months.
Area of production
Sola (Sora or Soera) is a semi-matured or matured cheese, with a semi-soft texture, which is produced in the Southern part of the Province of Cuneo between the Mondovi and Cuneo zones.
History
It is a cheese with a tradition that lies in the alpine pastures, as documented by the historian Tulio Pagliana in a study on the lives of the shepherds of the Upper Tanaro Valley.The name derives from the particular shape of the cheese on maturing, which is similar to that of the sole of a shoe.
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