“Try it (“provalo” in Italian), it is so good!” said the cheese maker from Southern Italy to convince the Po Valley farmers to taste this spun paste cheese.
They liked it so much that provolone cheese became a D.O.P. product from Valpadana valley, thanks to the delicious milk from Frisona cows, which are typical of this area.
There are two kinds of provolone, the sweet and the spicy one, depending on its ageing. There are also different shapes: the most ancient one is pear-shaped, but it also comes in cylinders, small flasks or melon.
Its weight may vary from 0.5 kilos to more than 100 kilos: quite a heavy cheese to carry!
How does one make Provolone Valpadana? Cow’s whole milk from cows bred in the specific production areas and with the right fodder is mixed up with the calf’s liquid rennet in order to obtain sweet provolone, while lamb’s milk is added to get spicy provolone. The curd gets broken into corn-size clumps, then it is cooked at 49-50 °C. Deprived of the buttermilk, the paste ages for a few hours. Afterwards, the cheese is processed by pouring some boiling water on it (over 70 °C). This procedure gives it its typical texture: the cheese tends to form some threads, hence the term “spun paste cheese”. The moulding is carried out manually or using specific moulds by expert cheese makers. The cheese gets soaked in cold water in order to harden it, and then it is salted with brine. After this phase, Provolone Valpadana DOP gets dried, tied up and stored to mature for at least 10-30 days (for sweet provolone); on the other hand, spicy provolone weighting more than 30 kilos can age from 90 days to 8 months. From one hundred kilos of processed milk you get only 10 kilos of provolone!
Spicy provolone gets its salty taste from the lamb curd. Sweet provolone tastes like cream and grass, while the spicy one reminds of cooked butter and broth. Its flavour and perfume are quite intense in the sweet type, very intense in the spicy one. It is soluble and slightly sticky.
“Try it (“provalo” in Italian), it is so good!” said the cheese maker from Southern Italy to convince the Po Valley farmers to taste this spun paste cheese.
They liked it so much that provolone cheese became a D.O.P. product from Valpadana valley, thanks to the delicious milk from Frisona cows, which are typical of this area.
There are two kinds of provolone, the sweet and the spicy one, depending on its ageing. There are also different shapes: the most ancient one is pear-shaped, but it also comes in cylinders, small flasks or melon.
Its weight may vary from 0.5 kilos to more than 100 kilos: quite a heavy cheese to carry!
How does one make Provolone Valpadana? Cow’s whole milk from cows bred in the specific production areas and with the right fodder is mixed up with the calf’s liquid rennet in order to obtain sweet provolone, while lamb’s milk is added to get spicy provolone. The curd gets broken into corn-size clumps, then it is cooked at 49-50 °C. Deprived of the buttermilk, the paste ages for a few hours. Afterwards, the cheese is processed by pouring some boiling water on it (over 70 °C). This procedure gives it its typical texture: the cheese tends to form some threads, hence the term “spun paste cheese”. The moulding is carried out manually or using specific moulds by expert cheese makers. The cheese gets soaked in cold water in order to harden it, and then it is salted with brine. After this phase, Provolone Valpadana DOP gets dried, tied up and stored to mature for at least 10-30 days (for sweet provolone); on the other hand, spicy provolone weighting more than 30 kilos can age from 90 days to 8 months. From one hundred kilos of processed milk you get only 10 kilos of provolone!
Spicy provolone gets its salty taste from the lamb curd. Sweet provolone tastes like cream and grass, while the spicy one reminds of cooked butter and broth. Its flavour and perfume are quite intense in the sweet type, very intense in the spicy one. It is soluble and slightly sticky.
Provolone Valpadana D.O.P. is produced year-round in the territories of Torre Pallavicina, Pumenengo, Calcio, Romano di Lombardia, Fontanelle, Barbata, Antegnate, Martinengo, Covo, Calcinate, Bolgare, Telgate, Cividate al Piano, Mornico al Serio, Palosco, Carobbio degli Angeli, Chiuduno, Pagazzano and Calvenzano, all in Bergamo province.
Valcalepio D.O.C. red
Terre del Colleoni D.O.C. red Incrocio Terzi
