Who is Bella?
#Bella, Tarentaise, mascot of # SIA2014
Bella is from the Tarentaise breed. She has a beautiful fawn coat, lyre-shaped horns and all her extremities are black.
Tarentaise breed cows are the only ones in France to have two names: Tarentaises or Tarines. They have been part of Alpine tradition for a very long time... In fact, in the first century, Pliny the Elder, the author of the monumental encyclopedia "Histoire Naturelle" (Natural History) already sang the praise of "the milk-producing qualities of these little cows". It was later, in 1863, that they were given the Tarentaise name for the first time.
Tarentaise cows are mainly found in Savoie, and more particularly in the valley that shares their name. There are 13,500 Tarine cows in France, thanks to an organisation that was created to support the breed. The UPRA (French National Tarentaise Cattle Breed Selection and Promotion organisation), created in 1974, brings together all those involved with this breed of cow. In 1992, an international Tarentaise Breed federation was also born.
Tarines provide the milk used in the manufacture of four AOP cheeses: Beaufort, Tome des Bauges, Reblochon and Abondance and two IGP cheeses: Tomme de Savoie and Emmental de Savoie.