Salignon cheese - Valle d'Aosta product


Product type: Cheese
Region of origin: Valle d'Aosta - Gressoney valley
The "salignon" (also known as "salignoun") is a kind of ricotta cheese produced in the Valle d'Aosta region and precisely in the Gressoney valley. It is a very italian culinary rarity:  it's really difficult to find on market because is an homemade cheese almost exclusively consumed by the same people who produce it. 
Essentially it is a ricotta cheese mixed with salt, oil, vinegar, paprika, pepper (hence the characteristic pink color), juniper, fennel, cumin and similar herbs and dried flowers. Once you have the dough, it is passed through a sieve and then is reduced to about 300 grams each ball, hung inside the chimney to be dried and then stored. In some cases the cheese is produced without the smoke to be consumed fresh. The result of this process is a very hot cheese, good to eat with polenta, vegetables and sandwiches.