Montebore, today the rarest cheese in the world, has a very ancient origin.
This unique cheese on the table of the famous marriage of Isabella of Aragon and Gian Galeazzo Sforza, niece of Ludovico il Moro, which took place in 1489 in Tortona and the ceremonies which was the great Leonardo da Vinci. In fact, this valuable dairy product is associated with the Mona Lisa.
Its true origins go back much further in time, even between the ninth and eleventh centuries. art dairy Benedictine.
This cheese made from raw milk at 70% of bovine origin and 30% of sheep origin, shows a characteristic shape of a “wedding cake” that seems to remember the ruined castle of Montebore.
It can be eaten fresh after 20 days of production or in curing gradually longer. The pasta, white and soft in the beginning, is colored a pale yellow in ages long and its flavor intensifies. It lends itself to be enjoyed alone or in a risotto, meat or accompanied by fruit and honey, of course depending on age itself.
Today it is produced in a few Slow Food Presidia like that in the Borbera, province of Alessandria.