(Italian Cheeses)
(Italian Cheeses)
Italian cheeses are famous all around the world being extremely tasty and apt for cooking of everyday and special meals. You may find any sort of cheese you want in this wonderful country, which annually attracts a lot of tourists with its numerous sights and highlights. Italian cheeses can be soft and firm, made of milk and cream, whey and curd, salt and sweet in taste. In short, your every cheese-related culinary wish will be easily realized in the country of pastas and pizzas, which cannot even be imagined without this delicious product.
A long list of Italian cheeses astonishes the fantasy, and if you are not a native of this country it is easy to lose yourself in such a variety. You will need much more time than usual vacations to discover all the delights of the Italian cuisine in general and cheese in particular. A common decision in this situation is to choose a sort, which is not unusual, and taste it with different dishes and drinks. Actually, it is difficult to expect the wish to try some specific cheese (for example, a sharp-odored one) from the person who had never tasted the Italian cheese before.
It is the most reasonable to begin a trip across the Italian cheese making from soft creamy cheeses, as they are the most common and most people on the globe are their fans because of a mild texture and a delightful flavor. The supermarkets of Italy offer a deal of creamy cheeses, and the choice is truly wide: Gorgonzola, Bel Paese, Mascarpone, Parmesan and tens of other sorts of Italian cheese made of cream or just having a pleasant texture.
If you are not sure about the sort to buy (especially when you need a definite cheese for your recipe) address a market operator who will willingly help you. If cheese is necessary for the dish you should really buy the sort mentioned in the culinary book with the purpose to avoid trouble and disappointment. The fact is that each Italian cheese is made with adding different bacteria and in accordance with different technologies, so the flavor may vary. And if the dish is expected to have a special taste only a definite cheese may provide it.
If you prefer hard cheeses with a firm structure the best are Grana Padano, Parmigiano Reggiano and Fontina. Do not forget that hard cheeses are wonderful for grating, so if the recipe needs grated Italian cheese buy a firm one without hesitation. These sorts are also perfect with fruit. The best way you can use them is top salads, soups and pastas - all Italians do so. There are also cheeses made of milk (most cheeses) and whey (for example, Ricotta). Their flavor much differs and the texture is not the same. Cheeses made of milk usually become more granular in texture when aged.
But if you are looking for the most common, well-known and willingly-purchased cheese in Italy you should buy Provolone. The reason of its popularity is very simple: the cheese is, indeed, universal and may be used in cooking of various dishes. It has a lightly-sour flavor because of adding special acid. Citric acid Provolone is good both as an independent snack and an addition or ingredient to some dish. If you go to Italy on your vacations do not limit yourself to architecture, historical monuments and museums. You will all the same need some food to keep fit, so try to know the most you can about a delicious Italian cuisine, which annually attracts no less tourists than the Italian sights and points of interest.
(Italian Cheeses)
Italian cheeses are famous all around the world being extremely tasty and apt for cooking of everyday and special meals. You may find any sort of cheese you want in this wonderful country, which annually attracts a lot of tourists with its numerous sights and highlights. Italian cheeses can be soft and firm, made of milk and cream, whey and curd, salt and sweet in taste. In short, your every cheese-related culinary wish will be easily realized in the country of pastas and pizzas, which cannot even be imagined without this delicious product.
A long list of Italian cheeses astonishes the fantasy, and if you are not a native of this country it is easy to lose yourself in such a variety. You will need much more time than usual vacations to discover all the delights of the Italian cuisine in general and cheese in particular. A common decision in this situation is to choose a sort, which is not unusual, and taste it with different dishes and drinks. Actually, it is difficult to expect the wish to try some specific cheese (for example, a sharp-odored one) from the person who had never tasted the Italian cheese before.
It is the most reasonable to begin a trip across the Italian cheese making from soft creamy cheeses, as they are the most common and most people on the globe are their fans because of a mild texture and a delightful flavor. The supermarkets of Italy offer a deal of creamy cheeses, and the choice is truly wide: Gorgonzola, Bel Paese, Mascarpone, Parmesan and tens of other sorts of Italian cheese made of cream or just having a pleasant texture.
If you are not sure about the sort to buy (especially when you need a definite cheese for your recipe) address a market operator who will willingly help you. If cheese is necessary for the dish you should really buy the sort mentioned in the culinary book with the purpose to avoid trouble and disappointment. The fact is that each Italian cheese is made with adding different bacteria and in accordance with different technologies, so the flavor may vary. And if the dish is expected to have a special taste only a definite cheese may provide it.
If you prefer hard cheeses with a firm structure the best are Grana Padano, Parmigiano Reggiano and Fontina. Do not forget that hard cheeses are wonderful for grating, so if the recipe needs grated Italian cheese buy a firm one without hesitation. These sorts are also perfect with fruit. The best way you can use them is top salads, soups and pastas - all Italians do so. There are also cheeses made of milk (most cheeses) and whey (for example, Ricotta). Their flavor much differs and the texture is not the same. Cheeses made of milk usually become more granular in texture when aged.
But if you are looking for the most common, well-known and willingly-purchased cheese in Italy you should buy Provolone. The reason of its popularity is very simple: the cheese is, indeed, universal and may be used in cooking of various dishes. It has a lightly-sour flavor because of adding special acid. Citric acid Provolone is good both as an independent snack and an addition or ingredient to some dish. If you go to Italy on your vacations do not limit yourself to architecture, historical monuments and museums. You will all the same need some food to keep fit, so try to know the most you can about a delicious Italian cuisine, which annually attracts no less tourists than the Italian sights and points of interest.
How to Make Mozzarella (Engl)
Information about the Cheeses of Europe (Engl) (Link)
http://www.nationalgeographicfood.com/CheesesOfEurope Encyclopedia of Cheeses of the World (Link) http://www.nationalgeographicfood.com/EncyclopediaofCheeses 
Already in texts of the ancient Roman writers Parmigiano-Reggiano is mentioned with reference to a specific production area, and surely we have precise information on how in the Middle Age in the abbeys of the Benedictine and Cistercian monks of the Po Valley, the production of Parmigiano-Reggiano was started using techniques that are still being used today. In particular, in the Po Valley between the Apennines and the right bank of the Po river, the monks who were skilled farmers, reclaimed fenlands, tilled fields sowing enough fodder plants to be able to breed cattle. Clover and lucern were the first products to be cultivated in those fields, and they are still essential to feed cows and to have a really savoury cheese, well seasoned and with a delicate flavour, without adding additives nor preservatives that might be harmful to the production of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Only then, having many heads of cattle, the production of Parmigiano-Reggiano could be started, a production that required approximately 600 litres of milk to produce just a single whole cheese that at that time, just like nowadays, can weigh 40 kg. So, close to the big monasteries and main castles, the first dairies were built, small square or polygonal buildings that can still be found in our country-side used to process the milk; in the XII century this was the cradle of Parmigiano-Reggiano. At that time goods began to be exchanged among the various religious communities risen in Italy and in Europe. These exchanges brought to the development of extraordinary invention of quality foodstuffs that are appreciated even today: excellent beers, vintage brandy, great red wines and champagne, as well as delicious cheese. The monks did not only start cattle-breeding on a large scale, but in their huge kitchens and in their laboratories they carried out important experiments and made inventions. They discovered that by a double heating of milk at an adequate and controlled temperature, a paste with few remaining water could be obtained, that was an essential condition to produce a long preservation cheese with a high nutritive value and tasty. Soon the big whole cheese, shiny as the sun, caught the attention of the merchants who from the monasteries of the Po Valley brought Parmigiano-Reggiano and made it well-known all over the world. Since then, the production of Parmigiano-Reggiano hasn't changed much, as the strength of this unique product lies in the strict and rigorous respect of tradition. All About Cheese - Italy (Engl) Link) (Cheese Board) 
(Taleggio)
We take a look at all the major centers of Swiss cheese like Emmental, Appenzell, Gruyere and Freiburg. We visit a Raclette cheese festival with farmers in Valais and also a cheese maker, who makes cheese in the old-fashioned way using sour milk. A basic introduction to Swiss cheese, we demonstrate how close together cheese and tradition are in Switzerland along with some interesting and surprising facts about Swiss cheese. http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/All-About-Cheese-Switzerland-Land-of-Many-Cheese-Cultures All About Cheese - The Netherlands, Famous for Cheese Holland is the largest cheese exporter in the world, and we visit the most famous cities such as Gouda, Edam, and other cheese-making centers of Holland. It shows the milk production in fully an automated high-tech barn, the cheese-making in the family business in the factory and the care for the traditions surrounding cheese, which are still maintained in Holland, not only as a tourist attraction. This episode answers all your questions regarding Dutch cheese: Which of over 20 grass varieties are best for the Gouda production? Why do cows in Holland sometimes travel by boat to pasture, and why the Edam gets a red wax jacket. An appetizing introduction to a major center for cheese . http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/All-About-Cheese-The-Netherlands-Famous-for-Cheese Making Asiago Pressato (Engl) Asiago is a whole milk cheese that originated in Northern Italy, around the Po River Valley near the Trentino Alto Adige region, where Italy borders Austria. Coming from the mountains, Asiago is similar to other mountain cheeses, such as Switzerland’s Gruyere or France’s Beaufort. Like other mountain cheeses, Asiago is made in large wheels designed for long-term aging to get through tough winters. Dense and flavorful, Asiago’s flavor profile changes as time polishes the wheels over the course of several months or years. Taken from the milk of cows grazing on the grasses and wildflowers of the mountains, Asiago can have a fresh, fruity flavor, or a savory, zesty taste on the palate. Asiago Pressato: The youngest form of asiago, this is the mildest, sweetest Asiago. It has a springy, pale interior, and pairs wonderfully with a light, fruity wine. (Asiago Cheese) 
Chef Mark is joined by Lou DiPalo from Di Palo's in New York's Little Italy, as they explore the making of Asiago DOP cheese in the Altopiano region of Northern Italy. We see the making of Asiago Pressato, also known as Asiago Fresco. 
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