Italian Cheeses Tips
Read these 27 Italian Cheeses Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Italian tips and hundreds of other topics.
Cheeses that bear the seal of quality
These cheeses bear the seal of protected declaration of origin:
Asiago, Fiore Sardo, Fontina, Gorgonzola, Grana Padano, Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, Pecorino Siciliano, Provolone, Rabiola di Roccaverano, Taleggio.
Bel Paese
Bel Paese means “beautiful country” in Italian, and the cheese is one of the best known and most popular of the Italian table cheeses. It is the trade name of one of a group of soft, mild, fast-ripened Italian cheeses. The first bel paese was made in Melzo, near Milan; on the lid of each box of bel paese you will see a map of Italy with Melzo marked larger than Rome. Although this is intended for a table cheese, it also serves for cooking. Its softness makes it an excellent melting cheese or it can be used as a substitute for mozzarella.
Asiago
Asiago is made in the Alpine region of Veneto and in the province of Trento. There are two types of cheese: Asiago d'Allevo and Asiago Pressato.
Asiago d'Allevo is slightly straw-yellow in color and a half hard-fat cheese with many small to medium holes. It has a somewhat sharp flavor. Blocks weigh from 17.6-26.5 pounds and take up to 24 months to ripen. Depending on the degree of ripening, you can use this cheese for either grating on certain pastas or it can also be eaten at the end of a meal.
Asiago Pressato is the same in color but a mild hard cheese. It has an irregular hole formation and is used strictly as an eating cheese.
Gorgonzola
Gorgonzola is the most popular of the Italian blue cheeses, mainly produced in and around Milan. Because this cheese keeps and travels well it has international recognition and is unique for its creaminess. White gorgonzola has a slightly more bitter flavor than the blue and is highly appreciated in Italy. It can be found in the provinces of Cuomo, Cremona, Milano and Pavia. Gorgonzola is made from whole milk with a fat content of 45%. Very soft and tender, almost runny, it has a rather fully developed smell and a very savory taste. Gorgonzola can be used in sauces, with pasta, and at the end of a meal. It is excellent with a barbola wine.
Pecorino Romano
Pecorino Romano is a hard sheep's milk cheese known even to the ancient Romans. The rind is dark brown and the cheese is white to straw-yellow. With at least eight months aging, Pecorino Romano has a characteristic piquant flavor. Often Romano is less expensive than Parmesan, but remember it has much more of a bite. Use it as a grating cheese on pasta or it may also be enjoyed at the end of a meal. It is excellent with full-bodied wines from the south of Italy and Sicily.
Parmigiano - Reggiano - Storing
Parmigiano-reggiano keeps for a long time in your refrigerator. If you buy a large piece, divide it into wedges each large enough to last you about 2 weeks. Cut it so that some crust remains attached to each wedge. Wrap the wedges separately with two or three thicknesses of aluminum foil. Make sure that no part of the cheese pierces the wrapping and protrudes. Refrigerate on the bottom shelf. Grate fresh each time you need it…you may think this is extra work, but you will appreciate the freshness of flavor and the moisture of newly grated cheese.
Ricotta – How Ricotta is made
Ricotta is primarily made with cow's milk whey which is heated to 170 degrees F. Citric acid is added to encourage destabilization and separation and the temperature is quickly raised to 185 degrees F. Proteins from the whey separate rise and coagulate; the proteins (lactalbumin) are skimmed off and put in a wicker basket to drain for two days after which the "cheese" is ready for market. There are three distinct varieties of ricotta: Ricotta salata moliterna (ewe's milk whey), Ricotta piemontese (cow's milk whey + 10% milk) and Ricotta romana (a byproduct of Romano cheese production).
Pecorino
Pecorino is a generic name for all Italian cheeses made with sheep's milk…its name derived from pecora, the Italian word for sheep. For most of Italy's history, some kind of pecorino has been its preeminent cheese. Sixteenth century records show that one pound of pecorino cost twice as much then as one pound of beef or of Parmesan. Even to this day, a choice pecorino is expensive and Italians with a fine appreciation of cheese are likely to prize it above other cheeses.
Bel Paese
Bel Paese is an Italian cheese made in Lombardy from pasteurized cow's milk and has a fat content of about 50%. Its form is a rather thick disk usually about 8 inches in diameter and approximately 2 inches thick. Bel Paese has a mild, fruity flavor and is excellent with valpolicella wine.
Parmigiano- Reggiano - Preventing drying out when storing
When storing Parmesan cheese, make sure you unwrap and check the stored cheese from time to time. If it has begun to dry, its golden color turning to white, wrap it in cheesecloth that has been moistened with water and wrung out until it is just damp. Wrap foil around the cloth and refrigerate the cheese overnight. The next day, remove foil, discard the cheesecloth, pat the moist surface of the cheese dry with a clean towel, rewrap it in foil and return the cheese to the refrigerator.
Buy the Real thing when it comes to cheese
Some Italian cheeses such as Mozzarella, Parmigiano, Grana, Ricotta, Fontina, Gorgonzola and Pecorino are particularly susceptible to imitation. Be sure you are getting the genuine Italian product when you buy. Look for the trademark of the local cheesemaker's consortium on the rind or wrapping. This is a guarantee of quality as well as a seal of authenticity.
Fiore Sardo - pecorino sardo
Fiore Sardo is also known as pecorino sardo and comes from Sardinia but also may be found in Latium and Campagna. It is made from sheep's milk and has a fat content of about 45%. Fiore sardo comes in small cylindrical wheels with convex rims about 8 inches in diameter and almost 6 inches high. It has a delicate, nutty flavor when young and can be eaten but it develops a much more distinctive sharper taste as it is aged…used mainly for grating. It is similar to the other pecorinos such as romano.
Scamorze
Somewhat similar to provolone, Scamorze is from the Campania region of Italy and may also be found in Abruzzi and Molise. It is made from cow's milk and has a fat content of 44%. Its interesting gourd shape with a narrow neck is tied with a cord with 4 little loops on top; it is mostly seen hanging in Italian grocery and delicatessen stores. Scamorze has a delicate nutty flavor and a glossy, golden yellow skin. It may be eaten at the end of a meal in pieces and also in some pasta dishes, best when fresh.
Parmigiano-Reggiano - Buy Italian Imported
Although Parmesan can be eaten fresh, it is best known as a hard grating cheese, which has the quality of bringing out the essence of every other ingredient with which it is matched. Parmesan is so popular that cheese producers in other parts of the world have regularly imitated it, but these imitations usually have little in common with the genuine Italian Parmesan they intend to resemble. When purchasing, be sure to buy only the Italian imported Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Fontina
Fontina is a firm, whole milk, slicing cheese from the Piedmont's Val d'Aosta, a mountainous area just south of Switzerland. This is one of the most delicious Italian cheeses. There are American imitations of this great Italian cheese, but they don't compare to the real fontina. Fontina resembles Swiss gruyere and has a light brown crust and comes in large wheels just like swiss cheese, but it doesn't have the network of holes. Fontina is made from cow's milk and is very delicate, somewhat fruity, and mild.
Caciocavello
Caciocavello means “cheese on horseback” and one theory is that the cheeses which are tied in pairs and hung over poles to cure look as though they were hung over a saddle. If the cheese is to be eaten straight, it is matured for 2 to 4 months, but if it is to be used for grating and cooking, it needs to be aged for up to 12 months. When young, the cheese is a mild, delicate eating cheese and when it is matured, it is a piquant spicy grating cheese. It keeps and travels well.
Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan)
One of the finest cheeses in the world, parmesan has been made in Italy for more than 700 years. The full name is parmigiano-reggiano and it comes from a small area of the country comprising Parma, from which it gets its name. Emilia-Romagna is the production zone from which the milk is made—a zone whose boundaries are fixed by law. There is a strict production code, preserving a centuries old tradition that allows no additives, no antifermentatives, no substances, other than milk and rennet and requires that each wheel of cheese is constantly monitored for its eighteen month maturation period. In addition to the producers brand, a consortium seal guarantees its age and quality.
Montasio
Montasio, a hard cheese made from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, is made from whole milk. After two to five months of aging it is used as an eating cheese. The color then is naturally light and straw-yellow. After 12 months the cheese is slightly crumbly and used mainly for grating. It has a pleasant and piquant flavor.
Mozzarella
Mozzarella (di Bufala) is a pure white, soft, smooth and moist cheese made I Campania from buffalo milk. It is shaped into small pears or ovals and weighs from 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds. Mozzarella has a mild, creamy, delicate and slightly sweet flavor and is one of the most popular cheeses used in Italian cooking.
The cheese is sometimes smoked and then it is called Mozzarella di Bufala Affumicata or Provola di Bufala Affumicata. In some case its smoke flavor is created artificially instead of natural smoking over fire, but nonetheless, it is still delicious and works well in pasta salads.
Parmesan Precaution
Parmesan is one of the lowest of the cheeses in fat and cholesterol, but you should still be aware that it has 28 calories per tablespoon and 1.8 grams of fat. In other words, it's 61% fat. My recommendation would be to buy the very best, well aged for taste, and use it sparingly.
Ricotta
Ricotta is a traditional mild cottage cheese. It is on the borderline of being a “cheese”, but is an important ingredient in much of Italy's cooking. It is a basin-shaped cheese, pure white and wet but not sticky. Ricotta is used as a filling for ravioli and many lasagna and cannelloni dishes. It can also be used for “sweet” dishes.
Guarantee of High Quality Seal
Many of the best known Italian cheeses carry a protected declaration of origin. Their unadulterated quality is guaranteed because the production process is established by law and the production district is clearly labeled. In addition to providing a guarantee of high quality, this seal often has such information as the year of production and the province in which the cheese dairy is located.
"formaggi tipici" - typical cheeses
Other cheeses that bear the government's signature of quality are the typical cheeses- “formaggi tipici”. Their production is not limited to a designated district however. Among these are Caciocavallo, Montasio, Mozzarella di Bufalo, Pressato, and Ragusano.
a few facts about Italian cheeses
In Italy, cheeses are served before and after meals, and as an accompaniment to fine wines. They are also essential ingredients in many Italian recipes which bring out the unmistakable character of the cheeses in very special ways…Italian cheeses may be made from whole milk, sheep or goats milk and even buffalo milk.
Mascarpone
Mascarpone is a soft, white, delicate cream cheese from the Lombardy region of southern Italy. This cheese has a creamy ricotta-like consistency, but supple and spreadable and it is added to famous Italian desserts. It may be mixed with sugar, coffee, cognac, or chartreuse and is best in the autumn and winter.. Frequently it is used in the preparation baked pasta dishes and sauces. It takes only a few days to ripen and has a fat content of 75 per cent.
1984 – allowable change made to Parmesan's production code
The only changes ever made in more than seven centuries took place in 1984. In the past, only cheese made between April and November could be branded parmigiano-reggiano; now the entire year's production is entitled to the controlled name. This is a cheese that has never been duplicated outside Italy
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