Italian cheese: a treasure of the national cuisine

Added: 05/30/2006

Italian cheeses are famous all around the world being extremely tasty and apt for cooking of everyday and special meals. You may find any sort of cheese you want in this wonderful country, which annually attracts a lot of tourists with its numerous sights and highlights. Italian cheeses can be soft and firm, made of milk and cream, whey and curd, salt and sweet in taste. In short, your every cheese-related culinary wish will be easily realized in the country of pastas and pizzas, which cannot even be imagined without this delicious product.

A long list of Italian cheeses astonishes the fantasy, and if you are not a native of this country it is easy to lose yourself in such a variety. You will need much more time than usual vacations to discover all the delights of the Italian cuisine in general and cheese in particular. A common decision in this situation is to choose a sort, which is not unusual, and taste it with different dishes and drinks. Actually, it is difficult to expect the wish to try some specific cheese (for example, a sharp-odored one) from the person who had never tasted the Italian cheese before.

It is the most reasonable to begin a trip across the Italian cheese making from soft creamy cheeses, as they are the most common and most people on the globe are their fans because of a mild texture and a delightful flavor. The supermarkets of Italy offer a deal of creamy cheeses, and the choice is truly wide: Gorgonzola, Bel Paese, Mascarpone, Parmesan and tens of other sorts of Italian cheese made of cream or just having a pleasant texture.

If you are not sure about the sort to buy (especially when you need a definite cheese for your recipe) address a market operator who will willingly help you. If cheese is necessary for the dish you should really buy the sort mentioned in the culinary book with the purpose to avoid trouble and disappointment. The fact is that each Italian cheese is made with adding different bacteria and in accordance with different technologies, so the flavor may vary. And if the dish is expected to have a special taste only a definite cheese may provide it.

If you prefer hard cheeses with a firm structure the best are Grana Padano, Parmigiano Reggiano and Fontina. Do not forget that hard cheeses are wonderful for grating, so if the recipe needs grated Italian cheese buy a firm one without hesitation. These sorts are also perfect with fruit. The best way you can use them is top salads, soups and pastas - all Italians do so. There are also cheeses made of milk (most cheeses) and whey (for example, Ricotta). Their flavor much differs and the texture is not the same. Cheeses made of milk usually become more granular in texture when aged.

But if you are looking for the most common, well-known and willingly-purchased cheese in Italy you should buy Provolone. The reason of its popularity is very simple: the cheese is, indeed, universal and may be used in cooking of various dishes. It has a lightly-sour flavor because of adding special acid. Citric acid Provolone is good both as an independent snack and an addition or ingredient to some dish. If you go to Italy on your vacations do not limit yourself to architecture, historical monuments and museums. You will all the same need some food to keep fit, so try to know the most you can about a delicious Italian cuisine, which annually attracts no less tourists than the Italian sights and points of interest.

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