Provolone Cheese

The ultimate cheese - provolone cheese

Provolone cheese is the type of cheese which marks its place of origin in southern Italy. It is made or produced in variable shapes. The various shapes are cone shaped provolone cheese, sausage shaped provolone cheese and pear shaped provolone cheese. North America and Japan are also one of the good producers of provolone cheese. However, Northern Italy is the major producer of provolone cheese. It is further categorized into two types. One is the large shaped cheese and other one is its small variant called Provola, which is smoky in nature. It is manufactured from the cow’s whole milk and the appearance of the cheese is very smooth. Its production is further done in various shapes like large salami shape, a truncated bottle shape, watermelon shaped and big pear shape.

The average weight of the cheese is calculated to be around 5 kilograms. Provolone cheese has main two sub types:

• Provolone Piccante: It is aged up to the minimum of four months and has a very peculiar sharp taste. It is also Piquant in nature.
• Provolone Dolce: It is sweet and is milder in taste.

The Piccante version is produced from the goat lipase whereas the dolce version is obtained from the calf lipase. The provolone is mainly used before the grilled meat consumption. The provolone cheese is the Italian cheese which is hard and ripened and in its early stages has great resemblance with mozzarella. However, unlike mozzarella it becomes harder and sharp edged with time. It is mainly used in the recipes like pastas and sandwiches. It is found in two distinctive colours as it ages with time. The two distinctive colours are yellow and golden brown. The rind of the provolone is either yellow or golden brown in colour. This rind is oily to touch. The taste of the provolone is milky and creamy and it is very smooth in appearance.

While using the cheese the outer rind is discarded after peeling it off and the inner surface is sliced and put into use. It can be complemented with many food items like Lasagna, Panini, chicken, pasta, sandwiches, Italian wines, dry red wines etc. It is also used in association with other wines and beverages like chardonnay etc. It once opened and brought home lasts for around a week and if refrigerated unused can also extend its shelf life up to four weeks. The Provolone cheese is one of the indispensable parts of Italian cuisine and it even peps up the flavour of the Pizzas and Pastas. Bon Appetite!