History of Provolone Valpadana DOP
The extensive history of Provolone Valpadana DOP Italianity, emigration and primary materials of excellence
The history of the Provolone Valpadana It is the story of a traditional question, the result of the interaction, over time, of important factors relating to the territory: the geographical characteristics, the agricultural products and the story of the men who worked and lived vividly.
The origins
The Origins of Provolone Valpadana can return to the period in which the Cistercian monks were busy with the vast operation of sanitation and canalization of the man-made and superficial waters in the territory included between the Lambro and Adda rivers.
This innovation created the basis for the development of a cereal-zootechnical production system, oriented towards the breeding of lecherous cattle and the production of this, which spread from the original nucleus of the lower Milanese area to the entire Po Valley, establishing itself as the main economic return of agriculture in the Po Valley, giving rise to the birth of numerous people typical cheeses.
The birth
He Provolone Valpadana cheese Born in the Po Valley, it was the second half of the 19th century of the happy union between the traditional culture of “pastas hiladas”, originating from southern Italy, and the dairy vocation of the territory.
The history of Provolone Valpadana continued in 1861, when the unification of Italy made it possible to overcome the barriers within the different areas of the peninsula and, at the same time, the installation of entrepreneurs from the south, who had moved to the provinces of Piacenza , Cremona and Brescia its own productive activities. That's all today areas that the production of Provolone Valpadana takes place.
This translates into the spread of culture and the consumption of pasta dishes throughout the national territory. The Po Valley offers great availability of resources for this transformation and also the infrastructure necessary for the maintenance of quality products, which involves an evolution in Provolone Valpadana produced in very diversified formats (from a few hectograms to more than a quintal ).
The denomination
The name “Provolone” appeared in the literature first in 1871, in the “Canevazzi-Mancini Agriculture Vocabulary” (Cappelli, 1871). For “Provolone” one can thus mean a “provola” of large dimensions. A very original product, distinguishable compared to others hilada pasta distributed in southern Italy for its great size dimensions, which takes great care, does not dry out and does not convert to this to slow down.
In exchange, the denomination of origin “Valpadana” was added to the term “Provolone” in 1993 (DPCM 04-09-1993), to crown a secular tradition which has determined the characteristics by which this product is known and appreciated.
