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ITALIAN CHEESE FACTS

   

Table cheese is usually eaten as a snack or accompanies a menu course, as opposed to the shaker cheeses that come either grated or shredded. 

Pasta filata is the curd development in the cheese that, when the cheese is broken, resembles the face of a ragged mountain. It creates stretchability when the cheese melts. An example of pasta filata are the strands in a string cheese.

When evaluating cheese in general, but especially Italian Cheese,

 


the most common classifications are:

 

  • age

  • ripening techniques and agents

  • texture (pasta filata):open vs. closedgrainy vs. smoothhard vs. soft (brie)semi-soft (Fontina, muenster)

  • color

  • rind development

  • flavor (piccante)

  • . . . and point-of-origin.


PARMESAN: (10-month)

Cow's milk table cheese. Lower in fat than other hard, grating cheeses, with a slightly nutty flavor.

ASIAGO: (6-month)

Table cheese with a sweet piquant and pungent aroma.

FONTINA: (2-month)

Semi-soft, with delicate nutty flavor. Used in cooking and with bread.

ITALIAN SHARP: (3-month)

Sharp table cheese. Similar to, but milder than, Asiago.

PEPATO: (5-month)

Romano style with whole peppercorns.

SHARP PROVOLONE:

Hard table cheese that epitomizes the development of Pasta filata and has a rich, full-bodied flavor.

PECORINO ROMANO:

Table cheese made with ewe's milk (Pecorino is Italian for sheep) which has a sharper, much more distinctive flavor than domestic Romano (made with cow's milk). It is not as sweet as Parmesan. 

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