RSSItalian Cheeses Are Some Of The Best
Dec 07
Italy business, cooking, drink, food, gourmet, italian, Italy, recipes, Wine No Comments
Italian cheeses are known worldwide as some of the best you can get. In America we love our pizza and our sandwiches, but they wouldn’t be the same without the Italians and their cheeses. In fact, although most of us are quite familiar with three or four of the most common types of cheese they make, the fact is, there are about 400 varieties of cheeses they make.
From Tuscany to Sicily, the Italians roll out the parmigiano, the provolone, and the Mozzarella. And these are just a drop in the bucket compared to the overall outlay of Italian cheeses. They make their cheeses with goat, sheep, cow, or buffalo milk. Their cheeses are great for shredding and have a fragrance and texture all their own.
The quality of their cheese is taken very seriously by the Italians. One thing to watch for when you shop for cheese, is their quality assurance stamp on the label. This is known either as the PDO – ‘protected designation of origin’, or the IGT – ‘protected geographic indication. If you see this you know it’ a product of good quality. If you shop for wine, you’ll find that wines use these same designations.
When learning about tasty Italian cheeses, you’re sure to come across the famous ‘Bel Paese’ cheese. In Italian, this means ‘Beautiful Country’. This cheese has become one of the favorites of all time and one of the best known by people all around the world. It was first made near Milan in a place named ‘Melzo’. But it’s mostly made in Lombardy, with pasteurized cow’s milk. It’s meant to be used as a table cheese, but works very well in cooking.
Yes, the Italians and their passion for cheese making is known worldwide. They would hike up into the Alpine mountains, where they’d refine their cheese production methods. Then when they came down, the world welcomed them with open arms. Up there in the old days, back on the mountains, they’d use caves for keeping their cheese cool. The concept of refrigeration was still fairly new.
They use the same types of tools today as they did back then. After all, if it works, then don’t fix it. They use wooden shelves, salt, oil, water, cutting boards and small hammers. The three main ingredients that anyone needs in order to make a cheese, is salt, rennet, and milk. From here you can make all kinds of cheeses, and using different kinds of milk and processes, will produce different cheeses.
Milk is the beginning of all cheese making. Simply broken down, cheese is milk coagulated. Ricotta is a cheese that’s made with milk whey and cream. The Italians have four basic types of milk that they use, and they are buffalo, cow, sheep, and goat. But other cheeses may be made up of the milk of yaks, reindeer, or camels.
Italian cheeses are some of the best by far, and it comes from a long tradition of cheese making. They take great pride in their work. So many people go through life eating and enjoying this great craftsmanship, without ever learning anything about it. It’s a shame, because it really is an interesting study. Anyone who wants to learn more about the Italians and their cheese, can go online and find tons of information to enlighten them. Next time you eat that pizza, think ‘Italian.
Want to find out more about italian food, then visit Luigi DeMarco’s site on how to choose the best Italian cheeses for your needs.
categories: food, recipes, cooking, gourmet, drink, wine, italy, italian, business
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