Italian cheese. The names and characteristics of Italian cheeses

Such a food product as cheese can be called without exaggeration one of the most important and favorite foods of a person. Practically in each refrigerator there is a piece. It is added to salads, snacks and main dishes, and desserts are prepared with it ... The application options for this product are a lot. Italian cheese in all its variety does not seem so popular than its French relative, but in practice it turns out that it is used even more often.

Basics: Definition and History

Cheese, along with bread, can rightfully be considered one of the most ancient food products of man, which needed to be cooked, and not used in the form that was presented by mother nature. The first evidence, which gives us to understand that cheese was an element of the diet of people of that time, date back more than 5000 years BC. E. On the territory of modern Poland. Separate gratitude for this is worth bearing out to that negligent cheese maker that did not wash the sieve for cooking cheese, thanks to which already in our days on it were found particles of milk fat. Who would have thought that it was with this that the Italian cheeses began, the names, tastes and flavors of which circled the head of gourmets around the world!

The principle of obtaining cheese, with the exception of minor details, was similar - it was based on rennet fermentation, which accelerated the process of dividing milk into cottage cheese and whey.

This enzyme was obtained from the stomachs of dead animals. There is an assumption that, like all genius, the appearance of cheese was the result of a mistake - using by-products, touched the milk and saw what became of it. So there was an excellent way of original preservation of such whimsical product, as milk, after all cheese can be stored on the order longer.

Favorite Italian Italian cheese came much later. Then the technology of cheese making was too complicated, therefore it was not practiced in the territory of Ancient Rome. The product was positioned as an import delicacy and, naturally, only very rich people could please them.

Russia did not lag behind, also producing cheese. Actually, even the name of the product speaks about the method of preparation - the Russian masters did not heat the mass in the process of production, that's why the cheese. Under Peter the Great, who successfully cut the window to Europe, the country learned that there are also Italian cheeses, whose names we will discuss below.

Mamma Mia

Italians should not be underestimated - concerning cheeses, their knowledge and skills are not inferior even to the glorified France. Italian cheeses, whose names we will point out below, have at least 400 items, each of which is distinguished by its individual taste and aroma. All of them can be divided according to the technology of preparation. This is very important, as belonging to one group indicates a relative interchangeability, whereas the use of a different subgroup cheese in the recipe is fraught with unpleasant consequences. Relatively speaking, you will get a little pleasant in the event that you replace parmesan mascarpone with tiramisu.

Hard cheeses

From the title everything is clear. This cheese has a solid texture and rich taste. The most popular of them include:

• Ubriaco. This solid cheese, whose name in translation from Italian means "drunk". After the initial molding the cheese is laid out in a container, filled with wine and covered with grape cake. In this mode, he spends from six months to a year. The output is an amazing cheese, whose tart aroma of fermented fruits is combined with a rich taste of pineapple.
• It is impossible not to mention the most popular of Italian cheeses - asiago. At the dawn of his existence, it was made from sheep's milk, but over time, they switched to cow's milk. This cheese is divided into two types. The first one is young, ripens for a maximum of 1 month. It is pale, elastic, with a soft and delicate creamy taste. The second ripens at least a year. During this period, the specially created microclimate fills it with fruit taste and sharpness, the texture itself is firm, fine-grained, and the color is similar to honey. If you wait another 12 months, the fragrance will increase, it will become very fragile and similar in color to caramel.
• Cheese of a grain. Wears this solid cheese is a common name, since it is divided into the grand padan and parmigiano Reggiano. The first has a bright, sweet, tasteful fruit, in which pineapple dominates. The cheese itself crumbles, has a yellowish color and is very hard. Perfectly lends itself to freezing without loss of taste. Ages about 4 years. The second is similar in taste to the grana padana, only everything in it is more intense - and hardness, and taste, and aroma. Sold in large parts;
• Sheep cheese pecorino. Prepare it from the end of autumn to the beginning of summer, since it is during this period that the sheep receive a free "paddock". This cheese is salty and spicy, ripens in an average year.

Semi-soft cheeses

This Italian cheese is the most varieties. Despite this, they are divided into two groups, those that have a thin crust and differ in a long period of aging, and those that have a thick bright crust. All of them are washed during preparation in brine, as this measure prevents the development of excess mold. So, to semi-soft cheeses include:

• Cachotte di Urbino. This cheese is most popular in the homeland. It has a loose, sweet, moist texture. In taste, the notes of milk, grass and nuts are guessed.
• Stracchino. One of Italy's most amazing cheeses. Traditionally ripens in caves, due to which it gets a crust of pink color and aroma, in which almonds and shades of hay mixed. The taste reminds, oddly enough, a creamy soup with asparagus.
• Fontina. Has a dense and elastic texture. The inside is evenly covered with small holes. The taste is intense nutty with a drop of sweet-smelling honey.

Blue cheeses

Here the palm of primacy, no doubt, belongs to the Gorgonzola. All the Italian cheeses, the photos of which we provided in this article, are self-sufficient to taste, and gorgonzola as well. However, it really "will play" it in combination with a fresh pear. Strongly recommend to try. If you characterize the taste in general, then it is sweet, creamy with a thin note of mushrooms and nuts.

Semi-hard cheeses

They are united by a consistence - dense and creamy. Covered with a crust of mold or natural, for greater safety, sealed with wax. To them carry, first of all, cheese of a volume. It is used both young and seasoned. In the first case, it is tender and sweet, at the end of the year the aroma changes, becoming sharp and intense. The aroma is dominated by a shade of meadow flowers.

Fresh Cheeses

Representatives of this type are the following varieties of Italian cheeses:

• Robotic pasteurized. Has a sweet-sour aroma and consistency of fresh butter.
• Robiola unpasteurized. The texture is fleshy, juicy, the flavor is closer to yeast.
• Crescent. The closest to taste is yoghurt. This cheese is so saturated with serum that it seems wet.

Cheeses on a clot

This type is a stretched cheese clot, it includes:

• Kachiokavallo. Traditional farm cheese. It is machined mechanically until the texture gets a pronounced fibrous and yt stops tearing. After that, the mass is divided into portions, passes through the molding and enters the maturing. The taste of this cheese is beautiful, tender and sweet.
• The most famous cheese from the bunch is mozzarella (photo). As a rule, goes on sale in the serum, which supports a gentle texture due to the abundance of moisture between the fibers.

Cheese from whey

Here the favorite of all times and peoples is considered to be ricotta. A cheese that is surprising in taste and consistency, which looks like the most delicate and fresh cottage cheese.

Mature Cheese

This category includes the legendary mascarpone. It has an extreme fat content and an equally exorbitant taste of cream. He owes his existence to the symbol of Italian confectioners - tiramisu dessert. This soft Italian cheese is similar in appearance to rustic sour cream.

Application

And here is the most delicious. Dishes in which it is possible to apply Italian cheeses, weight! No paste can do without the intervention of Parmesan, cannoli; Traditional Italian dessert is impossible without ricotta. Pizza "Margarita", unforgettable and infinitely delicious classic, due to its taste combination of greens, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese (photo).

Cheeses brought directly from Italy are distinguished by a rather high price. What about those who can not afford them? The craftsmen will find an outlet everywhere. For example, now in the territory of Belarus, the production of cheeses has developed, and the technology repeats the one that is common in the original lands. Of course, this is not Italian cheese from Italy, but nevertheless the product is very decent.