Strachitunt is a blue cheese: in fact, the molds that run through it are also this beautiful color.
It is the ancestor of gorgonzola and falls into the stracchino family; raw paste, it is made from whole raw cow’s milk from two milkings, and is aged for a minimum of 75 days.
Processing involves piercing the rind of the cheese to let in oxygen and allow molds to develop; this gives the characteristic blue-green stripes-that’s why it is called a blue-veined cheese (a term derived from erborin, “parsley” in Lombard dialect).
Strachitunt follows a strict production specification in order to have the P.D.O. label: milk must come from cattle raised on farms in the production area and belong to Alpine Brown cows for at least 90 percent of the total; cows must be raised on grass and hay for 65 percent of the total, with 90 percent coming from the Strachitunt area.
The use of corn silage and total or partial skimming is prohibited.