
Piave is a firm, pasteurised, cooked curd, cow's milk cheese made from local breeds of cows in Belluno, Italy. It is an excellent melting cheese and its flavour intensifies with age, producing a sweet and savoury effect consisting of melted butter, tropical fruit, bitter almond, and light vegetal tones.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Type of milk | Cow's milk |
| Breed of cow | Bruna Italiana, Pezzata Rossa, Frisona Italiana, and Grigio Alpina |
| Milk diet | Summer: mountain pastures, wildflowers and alliums; winter: forage grass, hay, whole grains, and corn |
| Texture | Firm, hard |
| Type of curd | Cooked |
| Melting ability | Excellent |
| Flavour | Sweet and savoury, with notes of melted butter, tropical fruit, bitter almond, and light vegetal tones |
| Age | Fresco, Mezzano, Vecchio, Vecchio Selezione Ora, and Vecchio Riserva |
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What You'll Learn

Piave Vecchio is a hard, savoury, fruity cow's milk cheese
Piave Vecchio is named for the Piave River in Northern Italy. It is often compared to Parmigiano Reggiano, but it is smoother, with a more concentrated, sweet crystalline paste. It is aged for six months or more, and pairs well with red and white wines, amber ale, and pina colada.
Piave Vecchio is one of five variations of Piave cheese, which are produced from one recipe and differ in age: Fresco, Mezzano, Vecchio, Vecchio Selezione Ora, and Vecchio Riserva. Vecchio is the most common variety in the US.
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It is named after the Piave River in Northern Italy
Piave is a firm, pasteurised, cooked curd, cow's milk cheese made from only allowed local breeds: Bruna Italiana, Pezzata Rossa, Frisona Italiana, and Grigio Alpina. It is named after the Piave River in Northern Italy. The cows used to make Piave spend the summers grazing on the mountain pastures, shifting to a mixture of forage grass, hay, whole grains, and corn when the weather shifts. Piave is often compared to a young Parmigiano Reggiano. It is smoother than Parmigiano Reggiano, with a concentrated, sweet crystalline paste that has a tropical fruit sweetness and slight almond bitterness.
One recipe produces five variations of different ages: Fresco, Mezzano, Vecchio, Vecchio Selezione Ora, and Vecchio Riserva. Vecchio is what you are most likely to find in the US. Despite being made in northeastern Italy's Belluno region for several generations based on an ancient recipe, Piave is one of Italy's youngest PDO cheeses, finally achieving its protected designation status in 2010 after a long campaign.
Piave is an excellent melting cheese. Its flavour intensifies with age, and produces a sweet and savoury effect consisting of melted butter, tropical fruit, bitter almond, and light vegetal tones.
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It is often compared to Parmigiano Reggiano
Piave is a firm, pasteurised, cooked curd, cow's milk cheese made from only allowed local breeds: Bruna Italiana, Pezzata Rossa, Frisona Italiana, and Grigio Alpina. It is made in northeastern Italy's Belluno region and is one of Italy's youngest PDO cheeses. It is an excellent melting cheese.
Piave is often compared to Parmigiano Reggiano. It is smoother than Parmigiano Reggiano, with a concentrated, sweet crystalline paste that has a tropical fruit sweetness and slight almond bitterness. It is also harder and more savoury than Parmigiano Reggiano.
Piave Vecchio is named for the Piave River in Northern Italy. It is aged for six months or more and is a perfect table cheese. It can be sliced and snacked on, carved into chunks on a cheeseboard, or grated over pasta. It pairs well with both red and white wines, and can also be enjoyed with an amber ale.
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It is an excellent melting cheese
Piave is a firm, pasteurised, cooked curd cheese made from cow's milk. It is an excellent melting cheese, and its flavour intensifies with age, producing a sweet and savoury effect. The cheese is named after the Piave River in Northern Italy, and the cows used in its production graze on the mountain pastures in the Dolomites in the summer, and are fed a mixture of forage grass, hay, whole grains and corn in the winter. This results in subtle flavour changes between summer and winter, with summer milk cheeses expressing the wildflowers and alliums the cows eat.
Piave is often compared to a young Parmigiano Reggiano, but it is smoother, with a concentrated, sweet crystalline paste that has a tropical fruit sweetness and slight almond bitterness. It pairs well with both red and white wines, and can also be enjoyed with an amber ale. It is a great table cheese, perfect for slicing and snacking, carving into chunks on a cheeseboard, or grating over pasta.
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It has a sweet and savoury effect, with notes of tropical fruit, bitter almond, and light vegetal tones
Piave is a firm, pasteurized, cooked curd, cow's milk cheese made from only allowed local breeds: Bruna Italiana, Pezzata Rossa, Frisona Italiana, and Grigio Alpina. It is named for the Piave River in Northern Italy and is often compared to a young Parmigiano Reggiano. It is smoother than Parmigiano Reggiano, with a concentrated, sweet crystalline paste that has a tropical fruit sweetness and slight almond bitterness.
Piave has a sweet and savoury effect, with notes of tropical fruit, bitter almond, and light vegetal tones. The cows spend the summers grazing on the mountain pastures, shifting to a mixture of forage grass, hay, whole grains, and corn when the weather shifts. This results in cheeses that experience subtle flavour changes between summer and winter based on what the herd is eating, with summer milk cheeses expressing the wildflowers and alliums the cows eat.
The cheese is an excellent melting cheese, and its flavour intensifies with age. Vecchio is what you are most likely to find in the U.S. It is aged for six months or more and pairs well with both red and white wines, and can also be enjoyed with an amber ale.
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Frequently asked questions
Piave is a firm, pasteurized, cooked curd, cow’s milk cheese.
Piave is made from the milk of only allowed local breeds: Bruna Italiana, Pezzata Rossa, Frisona Italiana, and Grigio Alpina.
One recipe produces 5 variations of different ages: Fresco, Mezzano, Vecchio, Vecchio Selezione Ora, and Vecchio Riserva.
Piave has a sweet and savoury effect consisting of melted butter, tropical fruit, bitter almond, and light vegetal tones.
As a cooked curd cheese, Piave is an excellent melting cheese.

























