Asiago Cheese - History

History

During the tenth to fifteenth centuries in this region, known for its good grass, sheep raising was the predominant agricultural activity, the purpose of which was the production of savory cheese (at the beginning called “Pegorin”), and the wool production, destined for the textile works of the near valley (Valdagno, Schio, Piovene Rocchette..).

The sheep started to be replaced by cattle around 1500 as a consequence of the breeding’s modernization (especially thanks to the passage from the exploitation of the pasture to the care of the cut lawns); bovine milk replaced completely that of sheep in this region's cheeses, only in the 19th century.

During this period, the traditional cheese technique, today still preserved in the farms of the Plateau, is improved and thanks to the modern technology it also spread in the small and mid-sized dairies outspread in the territory of Asiago. The Asiago cheese production remains predominant in the Asiago Plateau until the nineteenth century; afterwards the production was also adopted in the neighboring lowland zone and in the near farms of Trentino.

One of the greatest causes of the production’s diffusion was the war events that caused a huge depopulation of the zone. Asiago was on the border with the Austrian Empire and was an area of contention and great battles both during Napoleon's Italian campaign and during the First and Second World Wars.

The Consorzio Tutela Formaggio Asiago, which is based in Vicenza, was set up in 1979 to control the quality of Asiago cheese, to make sure the designations, markings and seals are used correctly and to raise awareness of the cheese in Italy and abroad. It represents more than forty cheese makers and cheese aging facilities, or affineurs.