Italian Cheeses: Good Choices For A Global Market

Italian cheeses account for a significant part of the country’s exports. Customers around the world appreciate this basic food. Most indigenous cultures have some form of cheese included in their diet. Italy’s choices in cheeses vary in texture and flavor. The cheeses from this Mediterranean country range from very soft, almost buttery cheeses to very firm dry cheeses. The taste also vary widely. Some taste buttery. Others are known for a nutty flavor. Seasonings such as garlic, peppers or onions add interest to otherwise simple cheese products.

Sheep Milk Cheese Choices

Pecorino Romano cheeses can only come from the Sardinia and Lazio provinces of Italy. By law, the name is protected. Romanos are often used in cooking, but also can be good for a table cheese, due to the intense flavor. Romano cheese typically is aged for a minimum of 150 days to provide the typical tangy flavor.

Sheep milk from flocks in the region around the Italian capital is the basis for a specialty cheese known as Cacio de Roma. The milk is relatively unknown in the United States, although a few delicatessens carry the product. It is a mild-flavored cheese. The salty flavor is due to fresh cheese being rinsed in seawater. The texture can best be described as pliable.

Cheeses Made from Goat’s Milk

Cheese made from goat’s milk is lower in potassium and is well-tolerated by those with allergies to dairy milk. Caprino cheese is either fresh or seasoned. Fresh Caprino is only aged for three to four days and has a creamy soft texture with a round shape. It is often sold in paper wrappings or immersed in olive oil. The seasoned version of Caprino tastes of parsley, pepper or garlic and is aged twenty to forty days. It has a thin red or yellow rind.

Goat cheeses usually have a tart flavor. Those cheeses produced in Sardegna include a heated cheese product with a few small eyes and a light brown rind that is quite smooth. Sardegna cheeses are served as a follow up to a meal or may be grated on soups or pasta as a condiment.

Cheese Options from Dairy Cows

The small dairy farms in the mountains of Italy produce many popular cheeses. Alta Badia is a little-known cheese from this area. Fresh cheese wheels are placed in red wine for a few days and are then seasoned with garlic and black pepper as well as other seasonings. The wheels are less than five pounds in size. A hint of sausage flavor and a mild garlic taste in this soft cheese make it a good snack food.

The small Italian village of Bra produces a cheese that is quite dense when mature, but can be characterized as bouncy when fresh. Formaggio di Bra comes in several different permutations developed from a simple table cheese. It can be rubbed in wine or aged for lengthy periods. The cheese is often enjoyed with local red wines.

If you like cheese, you will appreciate the wide variety of Italian cheeses. These products are great for eating before, during or after each mail of the day. Spread paste cheeses on crackers or sprinkle dry cheese over popcorn. The range of textures and seasonings in cheeses make them an interesting way to enjoy cheese in your diet.

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