More than 100 years have passed since, at the end of the 1800s, his great-grandfather Luigi started the activity of cheese seasoner in Borgofranco d'Ivrea, in a particular building called Balmetto. It is a cellar built close to the mountain, from which wet and cold drafts called "hours" come out, ideal for the seasoning of cheese and the aging of wines.
It was in 1933 that his great-grandfather Egidio Torreano foundedthe companyEgidio Torreano E Figli, while the birth of the Fontegidia brand dates back to 1956,a fontal with unique characteristics. Today the rooms used have become large maturing cells, very similar, in temperature and humidity, to those of the "balmetti" and where, annually, thousands of forms of cheese are treated.
The fundamental elements of cheese maturation, according to the company philosophy, are 4:
Environment:the Canavesan microclimate, with windy winters, not particularly rigid and with poor mists and hot but not too humid summers, positively influences the complex and laborious chemical/enzymatic process that is the basis of cheese maturation.
Man:the minimum period of maturation of our products is 60 days, during which time, the staff following the ripening of the cheese forms.
Wood:The axle on which the shape of cheese is placed also plays a decisive role in the processing, which is to absorb what is expelled from the cheese and thus avoid, with stagnation of moisture, the rots in the crust and internal defects.
Time: a well-defined period of maturation is fundamental for the regular transformation and maturation of the cheese. This period allows the creation of our particular product that could not be achieved by speeding up the process.
