In Europe a number of production and communication strategies have long tried to establish local products as resources for local development. At the foot of the Alps, this scenario appears in all its contradictions, especially in relation to cheese production. The Heritage Arena focuses on the saga of Strachitunt, a cheese that has been designated an EU Protected Designation of Origin after years of negotiation and competition involving cheese-makers, merchants, and Slow Food activists. The book explores how the reinvention of cheese as a form of heritage is an ongoing and dynamic process rife with conflict and drama.
Autorentext
Cristina Grasseni is a Professor of Anthropology at Leiden University (the Netherlands).
Inhalt
List of Tables, Figures and Maps
Acknowledgements
- Why cheese?
- Calibrating cheese
- Post transhumant timescapes
PART I: THE WAR OF THE CHEESES
Chapter 1. Patrimonio and Tipicità
- The Entrepreneur as Sovereign
- The Language of Tipicità
Chapter 2. Cultures of Resistance
- The 'Mother of all Battles': Slow Food Bitto versus PDO Bitto
- The Niche PDO: Formai de Mut
- The Unachieved PDO: Branzi
Conclusion of Part I
PART II: WE, THE PEOPLE OF VAL TELEGGIO
Chapter 3. A geography of Opposites
- Straddling uplands and lowlands
- How Taleggio cheese failed the Taleggio valley
Chapter 4. The Best Cheese in Italy
- PDO Italian Style?
- The public trial of Strachitunt
Conclusion of Part II
PART III: DULCAMARA'S SENSES
Chapter 5. Marketing the Sensorium
- Slow Food and the Geometry of Val Taleggio
- Taliban and Improvers
Chapter 6. Reinventing Stracchino
- Deciphering a Meal
- Performing Cheese
Conclusion of Part III
Conclusion
References