In one of my recent trips to Italy, I was unexpectedly taken a few days on the Asiago plateau, in the Veneto region. As it often happens in Italy, with a short car ride, one is able to drastically change environment. In this case, with a 2-hour drive from Venice, I was able to leave behind me the suffocating summer heat in exchange for the sheer beauty and the cooler climate of the Asiago plateau.

The plateau is an area that was heavily involved in WWI, but that managed to maintain -- despite difficult times and migrations -- its culture and traditions. Several of these rotate around mountain country life, livestock and agriculture. Consequently, cows, milk and cheese have been part of the local identity for a long time and cheese making has been taken, generation after generation, to the level of culinary art.

There’s no surprise then, to discover that this is the land that produces one of the most celebrated cheeses in the world: the Asiago. It was, however, a nice surprise to be taken to visit one of its most prominent cheese factories, the Caseificio Pennar, where I have learned how Asiago cheese is made. I can’t share with you any of the many pounds of cheese I bought… but I can, at least, share a little bit of the experience: I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Cordially,
 

Andrea Sertoli Select Italy’s President