Recovering the memory of the Fruitière d’Oira

Picture this…a little copper kettle attached to a wooden frame, a dark fireplace, a draining table carved into the granite, a huge stone weighing down heavily on a wooden mould, sliding weighing scales, and a big old book methodically archiving milk deliveries from day to day. The little Oira dairy simply wants to get back to work, which is something they only have the pleasure of doing a few times a year.

We are in the rugged valley of Ossola, which connects the great lakes of northern Italy and Switzerland. This austere mineral universe is dominated by extremely high, grey stone faces. Villages have been created, perched on the slopes, often half-way up, allowing their inhabitants, for lack of comfort, to efficiently protect themselves from regular robberies in this port of call.

Oira is one of these villages, a hundred inhabitants strong. Each house is made completely out of stone. Thirty years ago, the little village fruitière closed its doors. A dry cow’s milk tomme, weighing about 6kg used to be made there. The milkmen who supplied the dairy had to go down a craggy road and then climb a steep staircase to get to the first floor of the dairy. On the first floor, a copper kettle, blackened by the soot, was suspended on a wooden frame, which was then placed near the hearth above the log fire. It could hold about 100l of milk, sufficient to make two cheeses a day. The cave d’affinage is located in the basement, with a small stream of water running through from the river to maintain the right level of humidity.

For twenty years, the former dairy was left untouched to deteriorate. Ten years ago, a new cooperative dairy, grouping together around 30 milk farmers, many of whom take their livestock up to mountain pastures in summer, opened on the outskirts of the village, to produce ‘Dicodo’, a pressed uncooked cheese, about to gain protected designation of origin status. A short while after, in 2004, the great Italian affineur Carlo Fiori, head of the Ligi Guffanti company, located 80km away, in Arona, on the banks of Lake Maggiore, set about restoring the former dairy, with the help of Giovanni Tacchini, boss of the new dairy, ‘to keep the memory of ‘terroir’ and traditional methods alive’, he explains.

The renovated dairy regularly opens its doors, by appointment only. The old kettle is back in use, thanks to former cheesemonger, Remo, delighted to have revived these ancient techniques, and to be able to show to schools and visitors what the Oira dairy did. The cave d’affinage is in complete working order. Carlo Fiori uses it to mature a selection of cheeses that go with red wine from the valley of Ossola (like “Prünent”).
So if you’re passing-by, stop off at the magnificently renovated bed and breakfast, ‘Ca d’Mate’. You will be hosted by Mario Garrone, who will open the doors of the dairy to you, before making you try Prünent. His family are well known producers of this wine.