Cheese 2003

Cheese, the best known international fair dedicated to cheese and milk in all their shapes and forms, this year celebrates its fourth edition. From Friday September 19 to Monday September 22 2003, the city of Bra (Cn), home of the international Slow Food movement, will be transformed into a one huge market of quality cheese and dairy produce..A new feature and central focus at Cheese 2003 will be the presence of shepherds who still practise transhumance, together with their cheese. From all over Italy—from mountain pastures in the north to the pastures of the center and south—Piedmont will welcome authentic cheese specialties, developed and presented by the producers themselves. It is, in fact, shepherds who maintain the methods and knowledge of making old cheeses in the traditional way, living on marginal land and protecting harsh, depopulated areas.The event, organized by Slow Food, the city of Bra and the Alba, Bra, Langhe, and Roero Tourist Boards, is different from any other food and wine event. Like other Slow Food initiatives, it focuses on a cultural and educational approach to food. Visitors coming to Bra won’t just taste and buy, but will have the opportunity to learn and become more aware of quality artisan production.Cheese will host popular features from past editions together with new events. There will be the Great Cheese Market, with Presidia products and other rare cheese specialities presented by their producers, graders and artisans; the Great Hall of Cheese with its 149 European PDO and PGI cheeses, providing a journey for the palate among an incredible array of varied and intriguing flavours; the established Taste Workshops; Agricultural Forums, where visitors can gain a deeper understanding of issues connected to cheese; the Milky Way, where you can find out about milk in other forms (ice cream, yoghurt, milk shakes and chocolate); Cheese for Kids, a playful workshop where children can learn while they play; AFIDOP (The Italian PDO Cheese Association) providing educational demonstrations on the various methods of cheesemaking.Cheese 2003, a combination of pleasure, knowledge, taste and discovery, is an event not to be missed,.