Our guide to Italian cheeses Part 2

Italy: Excite, Experiment And Enjoy Cooking With Her Cheeses

Continuing from Part 1 of Our guide to Italian Cheeses, we now move to southern Italy for a product emanating from Puglia that hasn't yet reached its centenary and is thought to have emerged as a convenient way of using up ritagli, those scraps left in the production of Mozarella. Originally it was wrapped in Asphodel leaves whose greenness guaranteed freshness but these have been replaced, alas, by plastic.

Ricotta, literally translated as ’ re-cooked’ is another softie made of milk whey from sheep, cow, buffalo or goat milk utilised in general cheese production. However, it’s not really a cheese as casein isn’t coagulated and it does spoil very quickly. Chef, Alastair Little’s recipe laid ricotta on sheets of fresh pasta as part of a stuffing comprising Parmesan, nutmeg, spinach and seasoning, this is then rolled up, sealed in foil, poached gently and served with a simple tomato sauce. Its versatility secures its place in the cooking of Italy or you could simply eat it with honey, a little cinnamon, a few hazelnut biscuits (tozzetti) and a sweet white wine if you were feeling particularly lazy.

One cheese synonymous with Italian cuisine is Gorgonzola, a bit of a thug with its bite and saltiness, if made with goats’ milk. It’s a blue cheese crafted since the 9th century but didn’t attain its greeny-blue characteristic tattooing until a couple of hundred years later.

Lombary and Picardy in the north produce most and it enjoys protected geographical status (DOC) and is a product of magic and organisms which produce the veining. It’s a cows milk cheese amalgamated with penicillium. Metal rods are inserted then removed to create tubes for air to pass allowing the mould to metamorphose into hyphae. It is this process that result in this artistry of veining, try it with succulent pears that dribble everywhere for a startling contrast or poach them for a stunning salad served with a mixture of gorgonzola and mascarpone, a confection dreamed up by Peter Gordon.

Which leaves us with Parmesan, we all thought was a powder sold in green, red and white striped small tubs with a sickly aroma, years ago. Nowadays shavings of fresh Parmesan will grace a green salad oiled with a mustard dressing, coat parsnips or form part of a breadcrumb coating for fish which is a distinct no-no within the cooking of Italy. Parmigiano Reggiano is a toughie, hard and granular and taking its name from the region where it was originally produced. As early as the 14th century references to Parmesan were cropping up in literature and even Pepys mentions it when he buried his precious cheese to preserve it from the ravages of the Great Fire of 1666.

Cooking In Italy relies on these beautiful natural products, experiment by all means, but most of all, enjoy.

Our guide to Italian cheeses Part 1

Italy: Excite, Experiment And Enjoy Cooking With Her Cheeses

Cooking in Italy would be impoverished, nay incomplete, without the addition of cheese. Like wine, this precious commodity responds to temperature, humidity, soil fertility human ingenuity and animal husbandry. It’s an organic result of a process dating back at least 8000 years.
Necessity is the mother of invention, the sun’s rays on fresh milk required a method to halt despoliation and preserve a nutritious foodstuff; e cosi, cheese was the solution. Although this technological leap forward appears to have originated from the Middle East it was the Romans who understood how essential this skill could be in shaping cooking back home in Italy.

The Romans were evangelists, spreading the good news across their Empire, but like so many of their aesthetic sensibilities and innovations, at the collapse, the ‘big society’ approach was lost and each region in Italy began to experiment, exploiting their particular geology or climatic variation to develop products which, to this day, vary both season by season or year on year. Nevertheless names such: Parmesan, Grana Padana, Ricotta, Gorgonzola and Burrata are synonymous with cooking in Italy.

These cheeses delight our senses and excite our palettes with their gloriously original and idiosyncratic personalities. Gorgonzola for example collapses in a Victorian swoon at the first sign of heat, whereas Parmessan is stoic, strong and awkwardly rubbery should you overcook it. Grana Padano, on the other hand will exude a sweet, fruity taste whilst offering up a crumbly grainy texture, hence ‘grana’ the Italian for ‘grain’. It’s the Grande Dame of cooking in Italy, having an illustrious 1000 year old history being first produced near Milan by Cistercian monks.

If preservation is the goal, Grana Padano takes the cup as it can last up to two years without harm as a consequence of its slow ripening process and is incredibly popular in Italy’s cuisine. Of course, this being Italy, competition is always bubbling beneath the surface and other grana cheeses are made but Grana Padano will be fire branded to show to whom it belongs, so be certain you check the stamp.

Burrata on the other hand has a transient, fresh beauty which is considered past its best just 48 hours after production. It’s a typical combination of cooking passions in Italy: the outside is solid but inside the reward is a soft slithery textured marriage of mozzarella and cream, burrata after all meaning ‘buttered’.

Join us on Wednesday when we explore more of the delectable selection of cheeses used in Italian cooking!

Parmesan

“Parmesan?” A huge slab of cheese is brandished over your plate of pasta as you’re about to tuck in. Say ‘when’ and you’ll get a generous coating – or tentative sprinkling - of rich, tangy Italian cheese. I like my Parmesan in thick buttery-yellow slivers. I want to taste the graininess, the crystalline texture. I love a pungent, crumbly mountain, not a light dandruff-style shower.

Often called the ‘king of cheese,’ Parmesan is not simply an accompaniment to carbonara, of course. It gives depth and richness to soups, stocks and risottos, it’s a vital ingredient in pesto, while a few shavings jazz up any salad. Rocket and Bresaola without Parmesan? Unthinkable. It can also be eaten in chunks with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar – or honey. As a dessert it’s delicious with fresh figs and caramelised walnuts or juicy pears.

Parmesan is, arguably, the most famous cheese in the world. If you delve into its history you find literary references to piles of grated Parmesan in Boccaccio’s Decameron back in the 14th century, while Samuel Pepys is said to have frantically buried his Parmesan to save it from the Great Fire of London.

Of course there are plenty of pretenders around. Pale imitators. While the usual territorial squabbles meant that eventually it gained PDO – protected designation of origin. Now only cheese produced in Reggio Emilia, Parma, Modena and part of Bologna can use the name Parmesan in Europe. Look for Parmigiano-Reggiano stamped on the rind along with the date.

Parmesan is a granular, hard cheese, made from cows’ milk and matured for a minimum of 12 months. The cows eat only grass and cereals and are given no antibiotics. The only additive is salt. The cheese spends 20 days in a tank of brine, saturated with sea salt.

As for maturity, Giovane is the youngest (and cheapest option for cooking), Vecchio is between 18 months to two years old, while Stravecchio is matured for two to three years. This is often thought to be the best ‘table cheese,’ wheeled out after dinner. The most expensive Parmesan is Stravecchione, which can be up to four years old. As a rule of thumb, the older the cheese, the more complex the flavour: true Parmigiano-Reggiano has a vibrant, nutty taste with a hint of fruit.

When you’re buying Parmesan, never opt for ready grated cheese as it loses its flavour incredibly quickly. And as for those tubs of powdery Parmesan, they’re a culinary crime. If possible always go to a cheesemonger or deli and watch as your chunk is cut from a whole cheese or ‘wheel’.

Other interesting facts about Parmesan: Italian mothers used to give the Parmesan crusts to their children to chew, as they have a high calcium content. A whole Parmigiano was traditionally hollowed out for special occasions in Italy and used as a serving bowl. And, in Italy, Parmesan is thought to be an aphrodisiac…