Valle Sabbia is a sort of extension of Lake Garda: it just takes a a few kilometers down from Salo to find yourself in a completely different landscape, a pre-alpine area bordering to the east with the largest Italian lake certainly a worthwhile detour for the gourmet. Because among other things Valle Sabbia can be considered one of the “dairy basins” of Benaco, which draws from here, as indeed from the Alto Garda, to complete the range of his products with typical cheeses of extraordinary quality. As the Sabbio and Conca, for example, the flagship of the Caseificio Valsabbino in Sabbio Chiese, a cooperative established in 1982 with the intention of becoming a reference point for the few farmers that in those years still resisted to the industrialization of the economy: a phenomenon that, since the 60s, has profoundly changed the social and environmental aspects of Valle Sabbia, moving the workforce from agriculture to industry and causing a general abandonment of the primary sector that, until the ’50s, was still the most important source of income for all families in the valley. Today, Caseificio Valsabbino associates 15 farmers for a production of milk which, in 2014, reached a record level of 32,000 hundredweight with an increase of about 20%. Interestingly, in 2003, the members associated were 34 but with an equal production (31,000): proof that even here there’s been a process of concentration going on, necessary to enable the better structured stables to survive the difficulties of the market.
The milk collected is today completely transformed by the cheese factory in a variety of cheeses that have sought to keep alive the ties with the old dairy traditions of the valley, with those products that once were present practically in the pantries of all families. The range is now quite large, but two products in particular stand out as “jewels”: the Conca, a whole milk cheese with a seasoning between 6 to 8 months, and especially the fragrant and tasty Sabbio, made with semi-skimmed milk and to be consumed after a seasoning from a minimum of 12 to a maximum of 24 months: a classic “mountain cheese”, but with an undeniable personality, a strong and decided taste that at the same time is always rather delicate and never overpowering.
The selection of products also includes Formaggella Monte, whole milk, perfect to prepare the classical “Polenta tiragna”, and Vallesabbia, which is put on the market after 60 seasoning days and is perhaps the most common and known product of the area. To buy the cheeses of Caseificio Valsabbino is simple: just visit the near farm shop, in località Mondalino. A step that one cannot miss in a journey to discover the charm of the unusual and discreet Valle Sabbia.
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