Love and hard training: for Giorgio Viero his work in the dairy sector is life

Sixteen years of work, of emotions, of life. It is what transpires when George Viero, a 35-year-old operator in the dairy sector, tells about himself: “The beauty of this job – says the cheesemaker – is that it is very manual and you never stop. Well, I like to move my hands”. However, without ever ceasing to innovate, always in compliance with the specification, thanks to the help of technologies.

Passing down ancient skills

Giorgio Viero tells a professional story based on values. Ancient values ​​handed down to him by previous generations and which he hopes to be able to pass on to young people: “My training – he says – began thanks to the elderly from whom I learned the various techniques: I worked with a “tough” cheesemaker, one who wanted the job to be done to perfection. At the beginning it was hard, I was very young, but now I realize that as he taught me he would have done no one else and almost, in the end I love him ”.

This is the approach he has taken inteaching young people who are approaching the profession of cheesemaker: “It seems to me that I use almost the same way to teach the kids: I like to explain the practicality of the thing – he says satisfied – It’s not about doing this, not doing this, it’s easier if you do this, you have less effort”. I teach a course that deals with small local productions and my will would be to continue growing because it makes me feel alive”.

Traditions and Grana Padano

A lover of traditions could only enter a consortium of a secular product. The story goes that the grana cheese from the Po Valley originated around 1135, within the ancient stone walls of theClairvaux Abbey, south of Milan. That place immediately became a point of reference for the monastic experience based on the spirit of “Ora et Labora – pray and work”, which example of sobriety, simplicity of life, respect for the environment and appreciation of work continues to be relevant even today and is a prerequisite for the future.

Inside the monastery, forerunners of modern dairies, the monks developed a method of producing hard cheese using special boilers. This cheese was destined to improve over time thanks to the aging process. The monks called him caseus vetus, or “old cheese”, in Latin. However, the name caseus vetus was difficult to pronounce for people unfamiliar with the Latin language. Consequently, the cheese took its name from a characteristic of its texture: compact but grainy. Thus was born the name of “grain cheese” or simply “grit”. The turning point in cheese production dates back to 1951. In Stresa, in June of that year, European dairy technicians and operators signed an “Agreement”, in which they set precise rules on the subject of naming cheeses and indications on their characteristics.

“Being part of the production of Grana Padano – he concludes George Viero – it makes you feel satisfied because you know that the product you make is the most consumed, known all over the world and very good”.