Raschera

Named after Lake Raschera and its surrounding meadows in the Monregalese Alps near Cuneo, these flat squares or rounds of cheese can have a bit of sheep's milk in them and are aged for at least a month. It's a delicate, soft but sliceable table cheese, sometimes used in fondues etc.

There are two kinds: the green regular packaged Raschera and the yellow-packaged Raschera d'alpeggio made and matured at over 900m in Fabroso Soprano and other nearby villages in the Maritime Alps. The square shape was developed in the good old days because the cheeses were less likely to be damaged when loaded onto mules, the only form of transport.

Raschera d'alpeggio is in the Slow Food Presidium. Both are designated DOP.