Mountain dairy farms were the preferred destinations for summer pasture and milk processing. Especially in the Alps, where the grassland was, and still is, mainly used by cattle, these structures characterized the landscape and the economy of the mountain communities, at least until the Second World War.
The tradition of fresh alpine butter and cheese-making is popular again now, thanks to its revival by Slow Food events and the desire to preserve age-old practices of human history.
All across the Veneto region, there are about 700 mountain dairy farms, of which 37% is concentrated in the province of Vicenza alone.
Butter was made using traditional methods and this vertical churn is one of the oldest examples of a tool used to make butter at home.
It consists of a cylindrical container for the cream that will float, strengthened by two metallic rings and closed with a lid.
A vertical rod acts as a piston and the up-down repeated motion allows the liquid part to curdle.
The butter thus obtained was poured into special wooden molds in which were engraved wildflowers in alpine pastures.
Vertical churn
CLASSIFICATION
Vertical churn
COMPOSITION
Wood and iron
SIZE
38.5 cm high; 15.5 cm diameter
ORIGIN
Veneto region
