An ancient, raw-milk artisanal Italian cheese aged in terracotta jars and walnut leaves, Casécc is the gastronomic soul of Montefeltro’s heritage. On the verge of disappearing, a passionate Slow Food project is fighting to protect its profound, irreplaceable taste.
A Land Suspended in Time: The Soul of Montefeltro
To understand Casécc, one must first understand Montefeltro. This is not merely a cheese of a place, but a cheese that is an inevitable expression of it. Tucked into the rugged heart of the Apennines, Montefeltro is a historic region of fierce beauty, a land where geography has dictated destiny. Straddling the modern borders of Marche, Emilia-Romagna, and Tuscany, its landscape is a dramatic tapestry of sharp peaks, deep valleys, and formidable limestone cliffs crowned with fortresses and castles—rocche e castelli that stand as silent witnesses to a tumultuous past.
It is a land suspended between present and past, where every winding road seems to lead to another century. This unique character is now celebrated through initiatives like the Ecomuseo del Montefeltro, which frames the entire territory as a living museum where history, culture, and the natural environment are inextricably linked.
This historical and geographical reality has forged a singular culinary identity. The cuisine of the Marche region has long been described as a “confederazione di cucine” (a confederation of cuisines), and nowhere is this truer than in Montefeltro. Its gastronomy is deeply “imparentata” (related) to that of neighboring Romagna, sharing a love for fresh egg pasta and hearty flatbreads.
Yet, its position as a crossroads has also allowed it to absorb and reinterpret influences from Tuscany in its use of certain cured meats, from Umbria in its cheesemaking traditions, and even from the distant southern reaches of Abruzzo. This constant dialogue of flavors has created a culinary tradition that is both familiar and fiercely unique.
The very landscape that defines Montefeltro’s romantic image also provides the crucial context for its most profound gastronomic traditions. The historical fragmentation of the region, characterized by fortified towns and the constant strategic maneuvering of powerful dynasties like the Malatesta and the Montefeltro, fostered a culture of hyper-local self-sufficiency.
In a world where sieges were a constant threat and travel between valleys could be perilous, the ability to preserve food was not a matter of taste, but of survival. This necessity drove the development of sophisticated, pre-industrial preservation methods designed to protect provisions from spoilage, pests, and invading armies.
The practice of aging cheese in terracotta jars (orci) or burying it in subterranean pits (fosse) is a direct legacy of this imperative. Therefore, the aging process that gives Casécc its soul is not an affectation; it is a technique born from the stone of the region’s fortresses, a taste of history forged in a crucible of conflict and resilience.
Casécc: The Autumnal Jewel of the Marche Apennines
From this ancient land emerges Casécc, an artisanal cheese that embodies the spirit of the region. It is officially recognized as a Prodotto Agroalimentare Tradizionale (P.A.T.), a designation granted by the Italian government to products that possess a proven history of local production for at least 25 years. This status is more than a bureaucratic seal; it is a state-sanctioned acknowledgment of Casécc’s deep cultural roots and a commitment to protecting the traditional methods that define it. Its production area is centered in the province of Pesaro-Urbino within the Marche region, but as the Montefeltro territory spills into Emilia-Romagna, it is recognized there as well.
At its heart, Casécc is a cheese governed by the shepherd’s calendar. Its production is strictly seasonal, a practice that ties it inextricably to the rhythms of the land and the animals. Cheesemaking begins “al cadere delle prime foglie d’autunno e termina allo sbocciare dei fiori in primavera, esattamente da ottobre a marzo” (from the fall of the first autumn leaves until the blooming of spring flowers, precisely from October to March).
This is not an arbitrary window. It corresponds directly to the natural lactation cycles of the local sheep, whose milk is considered richest and most aromatic after a season of grazing on the diverse flora of the late summer and autumn pastures.
This adherence to a natural, seasonal cycle is a powerful statement in the modern world. Industrial dairy farming, with its reliance on specialized feeds and controlled environments, has largely erased these rhythms in pursuit of year-round, standardized production. Casécc, by its very nature, is a counter-industrial product. It cannot be rushed, nor can its essence be replicated outside of its specific time and place.
It is a true taste of the Montefeltro autumn and winter, a concentration of the season’s character captured in a wheel of cheese. Its defining feature, the element that announces its identity before it even reaches the palate, is the “sapore inconfondibile di foglie di noci” (unmistakable flavor of walnut leaves)—a potent, earthy aroma that is the signature of its unique maturation.
The Essence of the Pasture: Milk, Breeds, and Raw Power
Everything that defines Casécc—its flavor, its terroir, its very soul—originates from a single, pristine source: the milk. The quality and character of this raw material are non-negotiable, derived directly from the local environment and the animals that inhabit it.
On the gentle hills of Montefeltro, the cattle and sheep “pascolano placidamente alimentati con foraggi, miscele di cereali e leguminose” (graze placidly, fed with forages, and mixes of cereals and legumes). This diet, rich in local grasses and herbs, is the primary vector for terroir. The complex aromatic compounds present in the native flora are metabolized by the animals and transferred directly into their milk, forming a baseline of flavor that is nuanced, complex, and impossible to replicate with standardized feed.
While the specific sheep breeds used for Casécc are often simply described as “local,” the bovine heritage of the region is formidable. The Marche is home to the prestigious Marchigiana cattle breed, a key component of the “Vitellone Bianco dell’Appennino Centrale” IGP certification. Though primarily renowned as one of Italy’s finest beef breeds, the Marchigiana’s history is deeply intertwined with this landscape. It is a rustic, hardy animal, perfectly adapted to the challenging terrain of the Apennines. The milk from such robust, locally adapted breeds is often richer in the fats and proteins that are essential for creating a cheese with structure and aging potential.
The most critical decision in the creation of Casécc, however, is the unwavering commitment to using latte crudo (raw milk). This is not merely a preference but a foundational doctrine of traditional cheesemaking. Pasteurization, the process of heating milk to kill bacteria, creates a blank slate; it is a safe but sterile medium that requires the addition of selected laboratory cultures to begin fermentation, leading to a predictable and standardized product.
The use of raw milk, by contrast, is an act of faith in the health of the animals and the purity of the environment. It preserves the indigenous, wild microflora of the milk—the yeasts and bacteria unique to the Montefeltro pastures, the barn, and the animals themselves.
This practice transforms the concept of terroir from a purely geographical idea into a microbial one. The final flavor of the cheese is shaped not just by what the animal ate, but by the invisible ecosystem of microorganisms that it carries within its milk. These native microbes are the true authors of complexity. During the long, slow aging process, they metabolize the milk’s fats and proteins, producing a vast and unique symphony of flavor and aroma compounds. This “microbial terroir” ensures that every wheel of authentic, raw-milk Casécc is a singular expression of its origin, a taste that can never be perfectly duplicated.
From Milk to Wheel: The Alchemy of the Casaro
The transformation of this precious raw milk into a wheel of Casécc is a meticulous process, an alchemy guided by the hands and wisdom of the casaro, or cheesemaker. Each step is a deliberate action, designed to build a cheese with an architecture destined for longevity and profound flavor concentration.
The process begins with the fresh, raw milk—either cow’s, sheep’s, or an equitable mix of both—which is gently heated and coagulated using caglio di agnello (lamb’s rennet). The choice of rennet is the first clue to the cheese’s intended character. Lamb rennet is known to be more enzymatically active and piquant than calf rennet, contributing to the development of a robust, savory flavor profile that will intensify and deepen with age.
Once a firm curd has formed, it undergoes a precise rottura (breaking). The cheesemaker works the curd until the particles are reduced to the size of a chicco di riso (grain of rice). This is a classic technique for Italian hard and semi-hard cheeses. Breaking the curd into such fine granules expels a significant amount of whey, resulting in a drier, denser mass. This low-moisture curd is essential for creating the compact, firm paste (pasta) that can withstand a long maturation without developing defects.
The drained curd is then extracted from the vat and carefully placed into fascere (molds) to give the cheese its characteristic cylindrical shape. Salting is performed a secco (by hand, with dry salt), another traditional method that distinguishes artisanal production. The wheels are rubbed with salt, turned every 12 hours, and re-salted over a period of up to two days. This process draws out further moisture, helps to form a protective rind, and allows for a more nuanced and gradual absorption of salt compared to brining.
Before the main aging begins, the newly formed wheels undergo a brief, critical maturazione for 10 days in a cool, humid environment. During this phase, the cheeses rest on wooden shelves, are washed on alternate days, and are turned daily. This initial maturation stabilizes the cheese, allows the rind to begin developing, and prepares the wheel for the transformative journey of stagionatura that lies ahead.
The Two-Fold Soul of Stagionatura: Walnut Leaves and Terracotta Earth
The true identity of Casécc is forged during its stagionatura, a unique, two-phase aging process that marries the cheese with the botanical and geological elements of its homeland. This is where Casécc transcends being merely a well-made cheese and becomes a profound expression of Montefeltro.
The first phase begins immediately after the initial maturation. For eight days, the young cheese wheels are laid to rest directly upon a bed of foglie di noce (walnut leaves). This ancient practice, seen in other regional specialties as well, serves a brilliant dual purpose. Historically, the high concentration of tannins in walnut leaves provided a natural antimicrobial and insect-repelling barrier, protecting the valuable cheese in rustic cellars.
Gastronomically, this step is a direct infusion of flavor. The fat-soluble aromatic compounds in the leaves migrate into the cheese’s rind and outer paste, imparting what is described as an “intensità aromatica elevata” (high aromatic intensity). This is a rapid, intense application of the cheese’s signature aromatic top note.
After this eight-day embrace with walnut, the second phase begins. The wheels are moved from the leaves and placed into distinctive terracotta jars, known in the local dialect as avthèin. This technique, also a hallmark of other great Italian cheeses like Pecorino di Pienza, relies on the unique properties of terracotta. The unglazed clay is porous, allowing the cheese to “breathe.”
It creates a stable micro-climate, buffering the cheese from drastic fluctuations in the cellar’s temperature and humidity. This enables a slow, controlled exchange of moisture with the environment, preventing the cheese from drying out too quickly while allowing its flavors to concentrate and its internal enzymes to perform their slow, magical work. This maturation in clay can last anywhere from a minimum of 30 days to a full year, depending on the desired outcome.
This two-stage process is a masterful, pre-scientific manipulation of flavor chemistry and maturation science. It is not simply “aging with leaves, then in jars.” It is a sequential program designed to build complexity in layers. The first phase aggressively adds a powerful aromatic element. The second phase then slowly transforms that element, allowing the sharp, fresh notes of walnut to oxidize, polymerize, and integrate with the developing savory compounds from the breakdown of proteins and fats within the cheese.
The result is a flavor profile of extraordinary depth, where the initial boldness of the walnut leaf evolves into a more nuanced, nutty, and complex bouquet that is perfectly woven into the very fabric of the cheese.
A Portrait of Casécc: A Sensory Analysis
A thorough organoleptic evaluation of Casécc reveals a cheese of distinct character, where every sensory attribute is a direct consequence of its meticulous production and unique aging.
Visual Examination (Esame Visivo): Casécc presents itself in a rustic cylindrical form, often with irregular flat faces that speak to its artisanal origins. The dimensions are consistent, with a diameter of 14-22 cm, a height (or scalzo) of 4-8 cm, and a weight ranging from 0.7 to 2 kg. The rind (crosta) is a key indicator of age. In a young cheese, it is thin, smooth, and a pale straw-yellow (paglierino). With extended stagionatura, it becomes progressively harder, more consistent, and darkens to a deep ochre or brown. The paste (pasta) is the color of ivory or pale straw, and its texture is compact, dense, and characteristically priva di occhiature (devoid of eyes or holes), a sign of the effective whey expulsion during its making.
Olfactory Analysis (Esame Olfattivo): The aroma is the cheese’s unmistakable calling card. The nose is immediately and powerfully greeted by the defining scent of walnut leaves. In younger wheels, this aroma can be fresh, green, and slightly tannic. As the cheese matures in the terracotta avthèin, this primary scent deepens and evolves, integrating with complex secondary and tertiary notes of the cellar: damp earth, toasted nuts, and dried mushrooms. Some variations, which may use chestnut leaves, are noted to have a distinct fungal back-aroma.
Gustatory & Tactile Analysis (Esame Gusto-Olfattivo): On the palate, the flavor is described as “deciso e pastoso” (decisive and doughy/pasty), indicating both intensity and a satisfying mouthfeel. The taste is profoundly savory, with a pleasant bitterness from the tannins of the walnut leaf that balances the richness of the milk. The aromatic persistence is long and complex.
The texture is firm and dense, ranging from semi-hard in younger versions to decidedly hard in wheels aged for many months. With long aging, the protein breakdown can lead to the formation of tyrosine crystals, which provide a delightful granular crunch. Some interpretations note a fascinating evolution of flavor in the mouth, beginning with a hint of sweetness that gives way to a characteristic, pleasant acidity.
The Montefeltro Table: Pairing and Culinary Traditions
In the culinary landscape of Montefeltro, Casécc is not just a cheese to be eaten; it is an ingredient of profound importance, a flavor catalyst that elevates the region’s most beloved dishes. Its intensity dictates its use, often as a powerful component rather than a simple table cheese.
Its highest and most traditional calling is as a ripieno (filling) for fresh egg pasta, most notably the iconic cappelletti that are a cornerstone of festive meals. The cheese’s decisive, savory, and intensely aromatic character is potent enough to stand out alongside rich meat fillings, providing a depth and complexity that is central to the dish’s identity. Similarly, a long-aged Casécc is an exceptional formaggio da grattugiare (grating cheese). A fine dusting over a bowl of the region’s breadcrumb-based passatelli in broth, a hearty soup, or a simple pasta with butter can transform the dish entirely.
When served on a cheese board, Casécc shines brightest when its intensity is balanced by contrasting flavors and textures. It pairs beautifully with the sweetness of chestnut honey, fig preserves, or slices of ripe pear. A handful of walnuts alongside it creates an echo of its primary aroma, amplifying its character. While specific recipes for Casécc are rare, one can draw inspiration from the vast culinary repertoire built around the similarly intense and regionally proximate Formaggio di Fossa.
Imagine thin shavings of Casécc over a beef carpaccio, its salty tang complementing the raw meat; or melted into a simple frittata with herbs; or stirred into a risotto at the last moment to create a creamy, aromatic finish.
The original recommendation to pair Casécc with “vini rossi corposi” (full-bodied red wines) is a sound starting point. The cheese’s powerful flavor and firm texture demand a wine with structure and persistence. A terroir-driven pairing would lead to the great red wines of the Marche. A Rosso Conero Riserva, made from the Montepulciano grape, boasts dark fruit, firm tannins, and savory notes that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the cheese.
For a more elegant and intriguing match, a Colli Pesaresi Focara Pinot Nero, from the cheese’s home province, would provide earthy, forest-floor notes that beautifully complement the walnut aroma. For those who prefer white wines, only a bottle of great structure will suffice, such as a mature, barrel-aged Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Riserva, whose nutty complexity and vibrant acidity can cut through the cheese’s richness.
“Casècc, a Family Cheese”: The Slow Food Revival
For all its history and character, Casécc has remained a hyper-local, almost secretive product, a cheese so tied to family traditions that it risked disappearing from the wider world. Recognizing this, Slow Food Marche has initiated a vital project to safeguard its future: “Casècc, un formaggio di famiglia” (Casècc, a family cheese). This effort, led by Slow Food Marche president Vincenzo Maidani, aims to analyze, define, and promote this gastronomic treasure to ensure its survival.
The project is coordinated by Francesco Quercetti, a figure of immense expertise in the region’s food and wine culture. As a Slow Food instructor for cheese and wine and a master taster for the National Organization of Cheese Tasters (ONAF), Quercetti brings a rigorous and passionate approach to the task. The initiative was highlighted at a recent round table discussion titled “Il CASECC esiste?!” (“Does Casècc exist?!”), a title that poignantly captures the cheese’s precarious state. The event brought together experts, tasters, and producers to reflect on the path forward for this “ancient and almost disappeared” cheese.
Quercetti himself articulated the project’s mission with clarity and purpose. “I analyzed and readapted popular and historical information, drawing up a technical sheet and defining the product profile,” he explained. This crucial first step moves Casécc from the realm of oral tradition to a codified, replicable standard. The goal is to create a cheese that is both authentic and adaptable. “It is a cheese rich in taste, which carries the characteristics of the pastures and local breeds, with evolutions between soft and aged,” Quercetti continued. By embracing this diversity, the project seeks to unlock the cheese’s full potential.
“The objective,” Quercetti concludes, “is to strengthen the quality and identity, offering versatility of aging to satisfy different pairings and consumptions.” This vision transforms Casécc from a rustic relic into a dynamic artisanal product. By establishing clear quality standards and promoting its various aging profiles—from younger, softer wheels to hard, grateable forms—Slow Food Marche is not just preserving a cheese; it is building a sustainable economic future for its producers and reintroducing a vital piece of Montefeltro’s heritage to a new generation of connoisseurs.
Casécc in the Pantheon of Italian Cheese
In the grand pantheon of Italian cheeses, a landscape of celebrated giants and protected icons, Casécc di Montefeltro occupies a special place. It is not a cheese of mass recognition, but one of profound significance.
Its production methods—the strict adherence to season, the use of raw milk, the infusion with walnut leaves, and the patient maturation in terracotta jars—are a direct link to the pre-industrial foodways of the Apennine people. This is a form of agro-archaeology, uncovering the ingenuity and resourcefulness of a past where survival depended on a deep, symbiotic relationship with the environment.
Each wheel is a testament to the biodiversity that is rapidly vanishing from the world: not just the diversity of animal breeds and pasture flora, but the invisible microbial diversity that gives traditional foods their true soul. It is for this reason that cheeses like Casécc are championed by movements like the Slow Food Ark of Taste, which seeks to protect such irreplaceable gastronomic treasures from the tide of homogenization.
In an age of globalized tastes and industrial efficiency, the rarity, seasonality, and hyper-locality of Casécc are its greatest virtues. It is a cheese that demands effort—to find, to understand, and to appreciate—the very essence of a place: the crisp autumn air of the Montefeltro hills, the earthy scent of the forest floor, and the enduring spirit of the artisans who continue to forge this masterpiece in walnut and clay.
Foto in evidenza: Onaf.it
Foto Montefeltro: Italia.it e Visit Montefeltro
Foto Casècc: Formaggio.it e Onaf.it