Some doubts exist regarding the origins of the name of this cheese, but it appears to be borrowed from Lake Raschera which lies at the bottom of the slopes of Mount Mongioie. It used to be that the only thing distinguishing Raschera from Toma cheese was its block shape which facilitated packaging and transport on mule back.

 

Raschera is a pressed, semi-fat, semi-hard cheese made from cow's milk to which a small amount of sheep's and/or goat's milk, sometimes skimmed, may be added. The production of the cheese involves the use of milk taken from two daily milkings.

 

Raschera is a table cheese, sometimes shaped like a flat-bottomed barrel, sometimes as a rectangular block with flattened ends.

The cheese is white or ivory-white with a rather firm and elastic texture. The rind which is russet-grey in colour, sometimes with tones of yellow, is thin, elastic, smooth and even.

 

Raschera is a very good table cheese; it is also reccomended for various dishes, for example melted in rissotto, vegetables and special dishes or diced in salads.

 

The taste is refined, delicate, characteristically aromatic and moderately sharp and savoury if the cheese has been aged.

 

Two types of this cheese exist: "Raschera" and "Raschera d'Alpeggio." The second, "Alpine Raschera" is produced only at an elevation of 900 metres or higher above sea level in nine towns and villages around Mondovì. Its special organoleptic properties are derived from the grazing habits of the milk cows which transmit the perfumes and flavours of the alpine mountain grass to the cheese.

 

The zone in which the cheese is produced and aged encompasses the entire province of Cuneo.