Quartirolo Lombardo gets up very early every morning: freshly milked milk must immediately be collected from cows on farms located in the cheese production area. Once the milk arrives at the dairy, it begins its journey to become tasty Quartirolo. The curd is broken very carefully a first time, allowed to rest 5/6 minutes and broken again until hazelnut-sized lumps are obtained from the entire mass. The curd is then placed in the molds that will cradle the future Quartirolo. After losing all the whey, the molds are “stewed,” that is, deposited in temperature- and humidity-controlled environments for up to a maximum of 24 hours.
After this stage, they are taken to storage to be salted and then begin the aging process that creates different end products: a fresh product and one that is aged for a minimum of 30 days, with a pinkish rind that differentiates it from its younger brother. But what does Quartitolo cheese look like? It is a white, sometimes lumpy cheese with a delicately acidic and savory flavor when fresh that becomes sweet when aged. When you smell it, you will smell yogurt if slightly aged or cooked milk and mushrooms after thirty days.