CHEESE! Slow Food's biennial event in Bra, Piedmont- Italy

In the words of Carlo Petrini; "The seventh edition of the event that brings together artisan cheesemakers and cheese lovers from around the world.The biennial event Cheese, organized by Slow Food and the City of Bra, is back for its seventh edition this year, being held over September 18-21, 2009 in Bra, in the northwestern region of Piedmont, Italy. The festival has become an international reference point for dairy artisans and cheese enthusiasts from around the world, with its presentation and exploration of the incredible diversity of cheese, through workshops, debates, tastings, educational activities and markets. Over its 12-year history, Cheese has changed consumers’ perception of the world of cheese, highlighting the diversity of artisan production and its fragility next to industrial producers. Since its first edition in 1997, Cheese has been restoring raw milk’s reputation, confirming its important role in the relationship between a product and the local territory and sensory quality of cheeses. This year, Cheese is focusing in particular on the issue of enzymes added during cheesemaking. As milk is today subjected to strict food-safety regulations, it is low in native bacterial flora and standardized laboratory-made artificial enzymes are used. This practice represents one of the most widespread and little-known standardizations of taste, leading to a progressive flattening of sensory qualities. Cheese promotes the production of milk or whey starter cultures directly in the dairy, preserving the local microflora and so also each cheese’s original characteristics."