Frederic Melton
Italy is one of the world's top producers of cheese, with thousands of traditional varieties. The country produces cow's milk cheese, sheep's milk cheese, and buffalo milk cheese. Popular Italian cheeses include mozzarella, Parmesan, Grana Padano, and ricotta.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of varieties | Over 2,500 |
| Milk used | Cow's milk, sheep's milk, goat's milk, buffalo milk |
| Texture | Soft, semi-soft, hard, semi-hard |
| Examples | Mozzarella, Parmesan, Grana Padano, ricotta, provolone, Asiago, mascarpone, Gorgonzola |
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What You'll Learn
Mozzarella
Italy is one of the world's top producers of cheese, with thousands of traditional varieties. Mozzarella is one of the better-known types of Italian cheese. It is made from Italian buffalo milk and a spinning and cutting technique known as 'pasta filata'. This white, semi-soft cheese has a high moisture content and is most often used for pizza, lasagne or in a Caprese salad with tomato and basil. It is also a veined, blue cheese that comes from unskimmed cow's milk and is generally split into two varieties: Dolce (which is sweet) and the sharper Piccante (also known as Naturale, Montagna or Mountain). Mozzarella is also a versatile cheese that can be made from sheep, goat, buffalo and cow's milk.
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Parmesan
Italy is one of the world's top producers of cheese, with thousands of traditional varieties in its repertoire. One of the most popular Italian cheeses is Parmesan, or Parmigiano-Reggiano to give it its full Italian title. Parmesan is a hard, granular cheese produced from cow's milk and aged for at least 12 months. It is named after two of the areas which produce it, the Italian provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia. It is also produced in the part of Bologna west of the River Reno and in Modena (all of the above being located in the Emilia-Romagna region), as well as in the part of Mantua (Lombardy) on the south bank of the River Po.
Parmigiano-Reggiano is a specific cheese from Italy, made in designated regions under PDO status. Parmesan, on the other hand, refers to similar hard cheeses made outside these specific regions, often following similar methods but without following PDO regulations. Parmesan is so popular that one Italian bank accepts wheels of it as collateral.
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Grana Padano
The cows are milked twice a day. The milk produced in the evening is skimmed to remove the surface layer of cream and mixed with fresh milk produced in the morning. The partly skimmed milk is transferred into copper kettles and coagulated. The resulting curd is cut to produce granules the size of rice grains, which gives the cheese its characteristic texture, and then warmed to 53-56°C.
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Ricotta
Italy produces thousands of traditional cheeses, with a significant number available as commercial products domestically and internationally. One of these is ricotta, a versatile cheese that can be made from sheep, goat, buffalo or cow's milk.
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Provolone
Italy produces thousands of traditional varieties of cheese, with over 2,500 types of cheese in total. Some of the most common Italian cheeses are mozzarella, Parmesan, Grana Padano, ricotta, Asiago, mascarpone, Gorgonzola, and provolone.
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Frequently asked questions
Mozzarella, Parmesan, Grana Padano, and ricotta are some of the most popular Italian cheeses.
Mozzarella is usually made from Italian buffalo milk.
Ricotta is a versatile cheese that can be made from sheep, goat, buffalo or cow's milk.
Provolone is a full-fat, semi-hard Italian cheese.
Italy produces more than 2,500 varieties of cheese, the highest number in the world.
