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A Cheese for Every Occasion and Taste
Until the 20th century and even well into it, the transumanza was more than a semiannual event. It was a way
of life with its own customs and traditions that went back thousands of years, not only in Italy, but also in many
other countries, most but not all of them located in the Mediterranean Basin. The English form of the word, which
can be found in standard dictionaries but is rarely used and virtually unknown to the average person, is transhumance.
It refers to the practice of driving sheep, cattle, goats and other animals to pastures in the meadows high up
on mountains or hills at the beginning of summer and back down to low-lying areas at the approach of winter. That
seasonal migration of flocks and herds and the drovers and herdsmen who looked after them was due to prevailing
climatic conditions. In most of the countries bordering the Mediterranean, and in some other areas as well, summers
are long and dry, while winters are relatively short and extremely damp. In northern France and the British Islands,
there has always been plenty of grass in summer, because rainfall is more evenly distributed throughout the year.
In the Mediterranean, pastures in valleys and plains dry up in summer, although they are lush in winter months.
In summer, rain is concentrated at upper elevations where grass-favoring heavy dew is also more common. Until the
present century, it was physically impossible or too expensive to bring sufficient feed to the animals in lower
areas where their owners lived. Certain members of each community had the responsibility, therefore, of conducting
the animals to summer pasture, remaining with them for months at a time to protect them from predators and then
bringing them back to their owners. Those herdsmen were almost certainly responsible for the invention, or at least
the development, of one of the most important (and tastiest) food resources known to man: cheese. Initially, animals
were domesticated and maintained for their milk. As long as the herds remained within close range of their owners'
homes, there was no problem. If the herds were absent for months at a time, however, the community would be deprived
of a food that was essential to its health and survival. One solution was for the entire community to follow the
animals and, in some parts of the world, nomadic peoples still do. But those who wanted dwellings more permanent
than tents stayed home and sent the herds away for the summer. They could do so because of the discovery of the
process by which milk is transformed into cheese, a solid food that can be stored for many months and even improve
in flavor in the process. During the summer, the herdsmen milked their animals and made cheese that, since it was
highly compact, they could easily take with them back to their homes when the time came to leave the heights. The
types of cheeses they made depended on numerous factors, including geography, climate and taste. In Italy, the
pastures of the Alps are more extensive and, since they are located at higher altitudes, more luxuriant than meadows
in the country's far south, so that they can be grazed by cattle. Vegetation is sparser in the south and the summer
drought more intense and prolonged, which means that pastures there are more suitable for sheep and goats. In general,
the Apennines, which cut across the center of the Italian peninsula from the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic seas, separate
the sheep and the goats from the cows. Although there are numerous exceptions, cow's-milk cheeses are more common
to the north and pecorini and caprini to the south of the mountains. However, the interrnationally known Italian
cheese Mozzarella is a wild card since the original and most authentic version is drawn from a more exotic source,
the buffalo. Differences among cheeses are not due solely to the species of animal that provides the milk, as anyone
who has tasted a variety of Pecorini or sheep's milk cheeses knows. While there is always a family resemblance,
each has a different texture, tint, odor and flavor. Those variations are due to climates and vegetation as well
as the techniques used by the producers. The season of the year when the milk is collected is also important, since
the same cheese has a different taste if it is made in the spring or the fall. Aging is another distinguishing
factor. Some cheeses or versions of the same cheese are specifically made to be eaten fresh, while others are best
when they have aged several months or even a year or more. Cheeses can be salty, neutral or sweet and the basic
flavors are altered in some cases by the addition of spices and herbs, such as peppercorns and saffron. Producers
once smoked cheeses to enhance their keeping capacities but the practice has survived because people find the flavor
attractive. Any attempt to explain why Italians developed their extraordinarily wide range of cheeses inevitably
brings to mind that perennial query, "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Did the regional or
even local character of the cooking spawn a host of different cheeses or did the cooks, inspired by the variety
of cheeses available, invent appropriate and distinctive dishes? Both questions should probably be answered in
the affirmative but there is no doubt that the cooking of each region has tended to highlight local cheeses. Over
the centuries, Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano have infiltrated the dishes of many other Italian regions but
they were originally an essential element of the traditional cooking of the Po Valley and they still are. In Italian
cookery, cheeses are used in innumerable ways. They are grated and sprinkled over soups and pastas and incorporated
in a myriad of stuffings and sauces. They are roasted, toasted and fried to be consumed as dishes in their own
right. They are gratinéd over meats, poultry, fish and vegetables, sealing in flavors and imparting their
own special savor to the dish. Sweetened with honey, sugar and grape must, they constitute the foundations of a
host of tantalizing desserts. Alone or accompanied by a goblet of wine and a bit of bread, they make a fitting
conclusion to a fine meal or an energizing snack. Applying their know-how and flair, generations of Italian cooks
have found ways of using cheese that are as varied as the food itself. Cheeses produced in Italy are now available
in food stores throughout the United States. They are often imitated but only the authentic versions give Italian
preparations their true flavors, odors and consistencies. Any roster of Italian cheeses will almost necessarily
be incomplete but the following types should appear at least occasionally on everyone's shopping list.
Parmigiano Reggiano
This firm, grainy cow's-milk cheese has been made in the area around the Po Valley, in the cities of Parma and
Reggio Emilia, since the early Middle Ages. It is the most famous and highly prized of all Italian cheeses. Wheels
of Parmigiano Reggiano weighing about 70 pounds each are aged from slightly less than one year to more than two
years. When the wheel is first cut open, flakes of the cheese are incomparable when consumed as a separate course,
accompanied perhaps by pears or other fresh fruit but assuredly with a goblet of red wine. The grated cheese is
used in a vast number of dishes, enhancing their flavors and textures. The cheese should be slivered with the aid
of a flat trowel-shaped knife that is inserted into the body and twisted. It is best when freshly grated and should,
therefore, be purchased in large pieces.
Grana Padano
Made in parts of four provinces in the Po Valley, the cheese is produced in the same way as Parmigiano Reggiano
and has much the same light, nutty flavor, although in a somewhat more subdued degree. It can be enjoyed on its
own but it is probably most popular as a grating cheese. Grana Lodigiano, made around the town of Lodi in Lombardy,
is usually cconsumed alone, at the end of a meal. It has a slight;y greenish tinge and "weeps when it is cut."
Pecorino
While sheep's-milk cheeeses have long been consumed in large quantity in Italy, they began to catch on in a big
way in other countries only in recent decades Many fans say they are more easily digested than cow's-milk cheeses,
a claim that owes more to preference and habit than science. Although Pecorini are produced throughout central
and southern Italy, four regionaIly based versions are best known at home and abroad: Pecorino Romano, Sardo, Siciliano
and Toscano. The Romano is aged the longest - eight months - and it has a distinctively rustic, yet at the same
time refined, flavor. It is often grated and appears in countless southern recipes, in which it is irreplaceable.
The Sardo is slightly piquant. Siciliano can be eaten fresh and creamy, when it is known as Tuma, or aged, when
it is grated. The Toscano is delicate and yielding and almost invariably eaten alone. It is not regarded as suitable
for grating.
Mozzarella di Bufala
Where would pizza be without Mozzarella? The best cheese is made entirely from the milk of buffaloes (from India;
they are not the American bison). Given the scarcity of the animals, however, the type found in most U.S. stores
will be produced from the milk of cows or, in the best of cases, a mixture. The cheese is used in many dishes besides
pizza, and it is delicious alone provided it is truly fresh, with perhap a bit of olive, oil and coarse, freshly
ground black pepper.
Gorgonzola
One of the finest - some would argue that it is the best - of the world's blue cheeses, Gorgonzola is made from
cow's milk in an area to the north of Milan. The delicate greenish-blue vein by pricking the cheese at various
points with long needles which admit the air and mold spores. The ripening process requires about 50 days. The
cheese should be eaten as fresh as possible. It has long been popular as the ingredient of various dishes, some
rustic, as in its use as a topping for grilled polenta, and some sophisticated, as when it is blended with cream
to make a sauce for pastas and gnocchi. However, it is still best when consumed alone at the end of a meal and
accompanied by a red or more intriguingly, a white, late-harvest, dessert wine.
Fontina
This smooth, soft cow's-milk cheese has been made in the Aosta Valley in northwestern Italy since ancient times.
It melts easily and appears as an ingredient in numerous dishes, like gnocchi. It is exquisite when, after being
soaked in milk, it is melted with butter and blended with egg yolks, to make fonduta. Spooned over toasted bread
or polenta and sprinkled as generously as the pocketbook will permit with shaved white truffles of Alba, fonduta
is a dish almost too good for the gods.
Provolone Valpadana
Made from cow's milk, this firm cheese goes to market in various shapes, including round and tubular, and at least
three sizes, each with its own name: provolette (small), provole (medium) and provolani (large). When young, the
cheese is more delicate but still assertive. As it ages, it becomes increasingly piquant. Although it is a native
of southern Italy, it is now made in other parts of the country. It is primarily consumed as a table cheese.
Caciocavallo
Another exceptional cow's-milk cheese of southern Italy and Sicily, Caciocavallo could be translated literally
but erroneously, since there is nothing equine about it, as "horse cheese." The name is a combination
of two words, cacio (an old term for cheese from the Latin caseus, which is also the origin of the German word
käse) and cavallo in the sense of "astride." The cheeses are hung in pairs astride a pole. Mellow
in flavor when young, it makes a good table cheese and, as it becomes piquant with age, it can be grated and cooked
in numerous dishes.
Robbiola
This is almost a family of cheeses. Production is concentrated in, but not limited to, Piedmont and Lombardy and
the cheese is usually made from cow's milk. But there are versions made from a blend of cow's and ewe's milk or
from goat's milk alone. The younger cheeses are soft and buttery, but with age, Robbiola. becomes firm and lightly
piquant. It is mostly consumed as a table cheese.
Asiago
An ancient product of the Veneto in northeastern Italy, Asiago is made from cows milk and comes in two versions,
da allievo, which is young, and pressato, which is aged. Both have delicate flavors and are used as table and grating
cheeses.
Taleggio
A cow's-milk cheese made in Lombardy in eight-inch 4.5-pound squares with a reddish crust, it is consumed as a
table cheese, preferably with fruit at the end of a meal.
Montasio
Produced in the northeastern comer of Italy, this cow's-milk cheese is consumed at the end of a meal when it is
young and, as it ages and develops increasing piquancy, it is used in cooking. It has a firm texture and a mild,
agreeable flavor.
Caciotta
Although it is customarily made of cow's milk, this small, flat cheese is also produced from goat's milk or a combination
of the two. The color ranges from whitish to yellow and the flavor from sweet to piquant.
Fiore Sardo
Originally made by shepherds from ewe's milk, this soft, firm cheese is now produced commercially from cow's milk
or a mixture of the two. Even when sheep are the source of the milk, the cheese is sweeter than a standard Pecorino.
The young cheese is eaten at the table. When it has aged, it is grated and used in cooking.
Mascarpone
This cheese, with the consistency of thick cream, is made in Lombardy from the freshest cow's milk. It is a much-used
ingredient of numerous desserts, like the astoundingly popular tiramisù or crema mascarpone, a cream consisting
of the cheese, egg yolks, rum and beaten egg whites. However, it also appears in many savory dishes - as, for example,
a sauce for tagliatelle or noodles, where it is combined with egg yolks. It should be consumed as soon after production
as possible.
Ricotta
Italian cooking would not be the same without ricotta, which is not really a cheese but a milk product, since it
is made from whey from which the curds have been removed. The whey can be from cow's or sheep's milk, although
the latter is best. Its name, literally "recooked," is due to the fact that the whey is heated a second
time. Ricotta is used in an infinite variety of savory and sweet preparations in every one of the country's different
culinary traditions. Its versatility has made it indispensable in the Italian kitchen. Ricotta is also made in
salted and smoked versions, which can be kept for a longer period than the fresh type.
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