Brigasca sheep milk Toma cheese
Characteristics:
The name of the product, another important Slow Food Presidium, comes from the french village of La Brigue, in the Roja Valley, that in the past was the most important sheep farming center in the whole bordering area among Liguria, Piedmont and Provence.
Despite the many administrative facts, here people have been always speaking the "brigasco", that is a dialect understood within and beyond the borders descending from the ancient Occitan language.
The Brigasca sheep, a local sheep population, originated from the same family of the Frabosana sheep: the curved profile and the males' back-turned spiral-shaped horns are similar. It is a strong animal with muscular limbs and strong hoofs suitable to graze in steep areas.
According to the traditional farming the sheep should spend seven to eight months in the mountains, and about 4 months in the coastal area where the mild climate allows the herds to stay outside even in the winter months. With its milk three cheeses the Sora, the Toma and the Brus are produced.
Processing:
Like the Sora, also the Toma is produced with sheep milk (or possibly with addition of goat milk) coming from the evening milking and partly from the morning one. The milk is heated up to 34 degrees and then the liquid rennet is added. Then curd is cut with the "rubatà", the typical wooden instrument. The curd is left to sediment and then it is collected with a rough cloth called "raireura". The cheese are shaped through proper moulds.
After 15 days of ripening the cheeses are washed with running water, then dried and placed in a fresh room on wooden boards.
The Toma is produced all year round, mainly from January to October.
Production places: Valleys and alpine meadows of the Ligurian Alps Park at the border with France
