cream Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Quatro Fromaggio and Other Disgraces on the Menu

Egg Pasta with Green Beans and Mushrooms

The combination of green beans and mushrooms makes for a vegetarian recipe with amazing depth of flavor. The earthiness of the mushrooms perfectly marries with the green beans, which also add texture to the dish. But the secret star of the show is the wine – its complex aroma is essential to bring all the flavors together.

This all-season sauce can be prepared relatively quickly, almost while the pasta cooks, and makes for a satisfying dish that is also beautiful to serve.

Egg Pasta with Green Beans and Mushrooms

Yield: 2 servings

Total Time: 25 minutes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Egg Pasta with Green Beans and Mushrooms

Ingredients

125 g (4 ½ oz) fresh or dried egg pasta (e.g.: pappardelle, tagliatelle, fettuccine)
100 g (3 ½ oz) green beans
150 g (5 ½ oz) mushrooms (e.g.: fresh porcini, oyster, crimini), sliced
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
½ of a small onion, sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup vegetable stock, warmed up
1 cup half and half (10% fat cream)
½ glass dry white wine
2 Tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano, shaved
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Shave the green beans using a sharp potato peeler. This preparation is essential for the recipe as it tenderizes the green beans, while preserving their crunchiness.
In a frying pan, sauté the green beans in olive oil for a couple of minutes at high temperature (1-2).
Add the vegetable stock and let the green beans stew for 10 minutes at medium heat (3).
Meanwhile, in a second frying pan, sauté onions and garlic in olive oil for a couple of minutes at high (4).
Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes at medium heat until tender.
Add the white wine and let it evaporate completely (5).
Add the cream and let it reduce for 5 minutes at low temperature (6).
Merge everything into a single pan, mix and simmer for a few more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Boil the egg pasta in plenty of salty water (see Cooking Pasta 101 for all the ins and outs), then drain it briefly and add it to the sauce mixing well for about 1 minute. Serve with some shaved Parmigiano.

https://www.disgracesonthemenu.com/2012/02/egg-pasta-with-green-beans-and.html

Baked Shells Pasta with Ricotta and Spinach

As mentioned in the Pasta 101 article, baked pasta has an important role in Italian cuisine. For this cooking style, larger cuts of pasta are layered or stuffed with filling and baked in a pan along with a sauce. The most known examples are lasagna (sheets of egg noodles, layered with Bolognese sauce and Parmigiano), and cannelloni (pasta tubes with ricotta and spinach or meat filling, covered in béchamel and/or tomato sauce). Baked shells pasta, however, would come in at the third place 🙂

Baked pasta dishes can be made with either dried or fresh pasta. When dried pasta is used, it often needs to be partially pre-cooked by boiling it briefly in salted water. For big cuts like lasagna sheets or cannelloni, this is quite time-consuming as the pieces need to be cooked a few at a time or they tend to stick to each other. Alternatively, “oven-ready” pasta can be put directly into the oven as long as the sauce is sufficiently watery (the excess moisture will be absorbed by the pasta as it cooks). Fresh pasta never needs pre-boiling.

To ensure proper cooking, it’s often recommended to cover the baking pan tightly with tinfoil, and then remove it part way through the cooking. This is especially necessary when using oven-ready pasta.

Texture-wise, baked pasta is very different from boiled pasta. Because of the prolonged cooking times and the higher temperatures reached in the oven, the parts that are covered in sauce turn softer, and those that are exposed to the air become gummier or even crunchy. These modifications and the blending between the pasta and the sauce and filling result in a completely different pasta experience.

Unlike boiled pasta, baked pasta reheats very well – and reheating sometimes even helps develop more flavor (some Italians purposely bake their lasagna the day before!)

Baked Shells Pasta with Ricotta and Spinach

Yield: 4-6 servings

Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Baked Shells Pasta with Ricotta and Spinach

Ingredients

250 g quality, dried conchiglioni (big shells)
300 g fresh spinach (frozen spinach can also be used)
500 g fresh ricotta
700 g strained tomatoes
50 g heavy cream
100 g Parmigiano
1 egg
20 g unsalted butter
salt and pepper

Preparation

Cook the spinach in a large pot, covered with a lid, at medium-high heat, without any water for 5-8 minutes.
If using frozen spinach, just thaw them and heat them up.
Mix ricotta, egg, Parmigiano, plus some salt and pepper.
Then add the cooked spinach, chopped and squeezed, and mix.
Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salty water for 2/3 of the cooking time on the box. If using fresh pasta, skip this step.
Drain and let the pasta cool off on a towel, then stuff every shell with a tablespoon of filling. Lay them on the baking pan previously coated with butter.
Mix the strained tomatoes with the heavy cream and some salt, then pour on the pasta. Add the butter in small chunks.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350 °F (180 °C) covered in tin foil, then for another 10 uncovered. Serve with a sprinkle of Parmigiano.

https://www.disgracesonthemenu.com/2011/10/baked-shells-pasta-with-ricotta-and.html

There’s Milk and Milk

For a blog that talks about Italian food compared to its North American counterpart, milk is probably one of the less obvious choices of topics. But if cow milk is similar, how milk differs as a product and how Italians and North Americans look at it can be quite interesting. For instance, it is perfectly normal for Italians to buy fresh milk with a shelf life of 2 days, or meant to be stored unrefrigerated for months before consumption.

Before we venture ourselves into the different preservation techniques, let’s talk for a moment about the relationship between Italians and milk. Italians like fresh milk just as much as North Americans do, but research shows that its consumption as a drink is less in Italian adults. A glass of milk isn’t commonly available in coffee bars and especially in restaurants because Italians don’t have milk with their meals. Flavored milk is also quite uncommon in Italy – chocolate milk does exist, but is only meant for young children (and is not as dense as the North American one). The consumption of milk-derived products, such as cheese, is instead higher in Italy.

Flavor-wise, Italian milk can taste quite different from the North American one. Flavor largely depends on how the cows are fed. For instance, a prevalently dry hay diet produces a mildly cheesy aroma, while lush pasturage produces sweeter flavors, but also barnyard indoles(3). Homogenization and pasteurization, which are nowadays standard for almost all milk, also affect the flavor.

Homogenization is a treatment developed in France around 1900 to prevent milk cream from rising to the top. The homogenization process breaks down the fat globules into smaller ones (from 4 μm to 1 μm). Caseine particles form a coating around the fat globules and this weighs them down and interferes with their ability to clump, keeping them evenly dispersed in the milk. The structural changes introduced by homogenization cause the milk to taste blander, but also feel creamier, and appear whiter(3).

The use of heat as a way to sanitize milk has been documented since the 1820s, but it took until the beginning of the 20th century for milk pasteurization to be regulated and required by the governments(3). Raw unpasteurized milk can, in fact, be quite harmful, as it has a relatively high chance to become infected with dangerous bacteria including salmonella and listeria. Nowadays, raw milk is illegal in Canada, whereas in Italy and in the U.S. its commercialization is restricted to authorized farms (which must be frequently inspected) that can only sell directly to the public within their premises.

The effects of thermal processing on milk vary based on its intensity and provide different levels of sanitation, shelf life extension, and side-effects on flavor and nutritional values. The following treatments are considered standard(2):

Thermalization: 20 seconds at ~65°C. The process kills many vegetative organisms and bacteria that produce enzymes that eventually cause milk deterioration. In the dairy industry, milk is often thermalized before undergoing further processing. Flavor and nutritional properties are unaltered.
Low pasteurization: 30 minutes at 63°C, or 15 seconds at 72°C. The latter is referred to as Flash Pasteurization or HTST (high temperature, short-time) and is considered the pasteurization standard for milk. It represents the minimum requirement by law in many countries (including Italy, the U.S., and Canada). Low pasteurized milk is safe to drink because all yeasts, molds, and pathogen bacteria have been killed. However, bacterial spores and some enzymes are preserved. Even if refrigerated, shelf life is limited to 1 or 2 weeks (depending on the milk’s “keeping qualities”). At strict HTST intensity, the flavor is almost unaltered and so are the nutritional properties. The slightly higher time and temperature (20 seconds at 75°C) required by homogenized milk are however sufficient to introduce small alterations.
High pasteurization: 20 seconds at 85-100°C. This process, which essentially consists of a short boiling, kills all vegetative organisms and deactivates most enzymes, although still doesn’t affect bacterial spores. High pasteurized milk has a longer shelf life but is more vulnerable to post-processing contamination because the higher temperatures also eliminate the bacterial growth inhibitors. As a result, this type of pasteurization is usually operated on the bottled product. The milk serum starts to denature and a “cooked” flavor develops. The nutritional properties are slightly reduced because of a loss of vitamin C.
Sterilization: 30 minutes at 110°C (prolonged boiling), or Ultra-High Temperature processes (UHT) ranging between 30 seconds at 130°C, and 1 second at 145°C. UHT milk (called “ultrapasteurized” in the United States) is preferred over milk sterilized by prolonged boiling because of the more limited browning and a better flavor. Shelf life is generally between 3 and 6 months, unrefrigerated. Once opened, it only lasts for 3-4 days at 4°C because natural bacteria inhibitors have been destroyed by the heating process. The nutritional value of UHT milk is reduced, but it is still a great source of essential nutrients such as calcium and proteins. UHT milk is particularly useful in all cases where transportation or storage of fresh milk is impossible, as well as for all uses that call for boiled milk. UHT milk is very common in Italy, where it represents almost 50% of the entire milk consumption, Italians are mostly used to its flavor and some even prefer it over fresh milk. North America, instead, resists the introduction of UHT because of its flavor and because it’s deemed not acceptable that milk can be stored unrefrigerated.

In recent years, the milk industry has devised an alternative to UHT which is also capable of extending shelf life, still without using preservatives. Through a process called “microfiltration”, between 99.0 and 99.9% of bacterial cells (including most spores) are removed by using ceramic membranes with pore sizes of about 1 μm(2). Since the fat globules are also about 1 μm in diameter, before microfiltration the milk’s cream is separated, sterilized using a regular UHT treatment, and then added back. Microfiltered milk is nutritionally equivalent to regular pasteurized milk, but with a longer shelf life of up to 3-4 weeks, if properly refrigerated. Flavor-wise, it’s considered similar to regular pasteurized milk, but with a creamier texture.

Under the same storage temperatures, milk’s shelf life depends on its “keeping quality”, which derives from the quality of the raw milk, the type of pasteurization, and the level of post-processing contamination(1). Keeping quality varies from country to country based on shelf life demand. In Italy, an expiry date of only a few days in the future is considered acceptable for milk, since it’s quite common to buy fresh ailments daily. In North America, a minimum of 2 weeks is generally the requirement.

Because of the shorter shelf life of fresh milk, Italian milk is sold almost exclusively in 1-liter containers. UHT milk is also sold in 1-liter containers because of its limited expiry time once opened. North American milk instead supports larger formats up to 4 liters, or 1 gallon (in the U.S.).

Another important difference between Italian and North American milk is in the use of “fortification”. In Canada and the US, by law, vitamin A (a fat-soluble vitamin) is added to all skimmed milk to compensate for the amount that was removed when the milk was skimmed. Milk is also fortified with vitamin D, as regulated by law, to compensate for the lack of exposure of the cattle to direct sunlight. Italian milk has no additives.

Finally, as a summary of the differences here is a comparison table.

	North American Milk	Italian Milk
Percentages of fat available	• Whole (3.5% to 3.8%, called Homogenized in Canada). • 2% or “Reduced fat”. • 1% or “Low-fat”. • Semi-skimmed 1.8% (not available in Canada). • Skimmed (less than 0.5%).	• Whole (3.5% fat min). • Partly skimmed (1.5% to 1.8%). • Skimmed (less than 0.3%).
Retail sizes	Containers up to 1 gallon (4 liters in Canada).	Containers usually only up to 1 liter.
Fortification	Vitamins A added to all skimmed milk. Vitamin D added to all milk.	No vitamins added – vitamins are not even mentioned in the nutritional info.
Types of sanitation	• Raw milk – illegal in Canada, rare in the U.S. • Pasteurized: 2+ weeks shelf life at 4°C max. • Microfiltered pasteurized – not very common. 3-4 weeks shelf life at 4°C max. • Long preservation milk (UHT) – rarely available. Over 3 months shelf life at room temperature.	• Raw milk legal if sold on the premises from the producer. • Pasteurized milk() or Fresh Pasteurized milk(*): 6 days shelf life at 4°C max. • Microfiltered pasteurized milk. 2-3 weeks shelf life at 4°C max. • Long preservation milk (UHT). Over 3 months shelf life at room temperature.

(*) Milk proteins at least 11% of the total proteins.
(**) Pasteurization has to occur within 48 hrs from milking. Milk proteins at least 14% of the total (when over 15.5%, can be labeled “High Quality”).

References

(1) Smit, G. (Editor). Dairy Processing: Maximising Quality. Cambridge, GBR: Woodhead Publishing, Limited, 2003.

(2) Walstra, Pieter. Dairy Technology: Principles of Milk Properties and Processes. New York, NY, USA: Marcel Dekker, 1999.

(3) Harold McGee. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Second edition (2004).

Breakfast or Colazione?

Breakfast in Italy is called ‘prima colazione’, or simply ‘colazione’. It’s the first meal of the day and many say it’s the most important one too. However, North Americans and Italians have fundamental differences of opinions in what to eat for breakfast. The first main difference is that savory breakfast items are almost absent in most parts of Italy. You would never see an Italian eating bacon and eggs, or even a bagel, which is standard in North America – and these items don’t appear on restaurant menus either. Things are quite different on the sweet side as well: no cereals, no peanut butter, no pancakes, no waffles or scones. What do Italians eat for breakfast then?

These are the components of a typical Italian breakfast: ‘caffè latte’ (hot milk with coffee) with a baked product, such as:

Bread or toast (with unsalted butter and jam, or just jam);
‘Fette biscottate’ (called rusk in English) (also with butter and/or jam);
Pastries (e.g. croissants) or cakes (e.g. brioches);
‘Biscotti’ (generic name for cookies, but more like the Italian version of cereal), typically ‘frollini’ (butter shortbreads), usually dipped in the caffè latte.

Hot chocolate or plain black tea (with milk or lemon) is sometimes an alternative to coffee. Other options that are generally reserved for young children include milk with barley or malt coffee substitutes, or milk with cocoa powder.

Italians follow more rules in general as to when to eat what. A cappuccino, for instance, is a morning treat, it’s OK in the afternoon as an alternative to espresso during coffee breaks, but it’s definitely not a replacement for the after-dinner espresso. Everything has a purpose, and the espresso after a meal is meant to be one last strong punch of flavor – the delicate nuances of a cappuccino would be out of place, and the milk would be heavy on a full stomach.

In Italy, a small selection of cereals with milk or yogurt cater to the diet-conscious but aren’t very common. Fruit juices are quite popular, especially pear, apricot, peach, and apple. With the exception of citrus, Italian-style juices are generally thicker compared to their North American equivalents, are also sold in individual glass bottles (20 ml), and are sometimes considered a complete meal. Fresh squeezed orange juice is also well-liked, especially during winter.

As you can see, sweet things are the preference. This is the case almost everywhere in Italy, with the Alto Adige region being the most notable exception. In Alto Adige, also called Südtirol, the Austrian influence can clearly be seen in the tradition of having cheese, ham, and eggs for breakfast.

A somewhat limited savory presence can also be found in hotels. Italian hotels generally just offer an expanded version of a home breakfast, but with the possible addition of a sample of cold cuts and cheese, in line with what is internationally known as Continental Breakfast.

A truly Italian routine, however, is to go have breakfast in what Italians call a “bar”. These have very little in common with North American bars. Italian bars are essentially licensed coffee shops that typically serve espresso all day, breakfast in the morning, sandwiches and beer around lunch time, appetizers (called ‘aperitivi’), and long drinks near dinner, and are usually closed in the evening. Bars are extremely popular in Italy – in the big cities you can find them at every corner, and they are all different from one another being usually privately owned (there are no major chains). Bars’ consistent quality, contained prices, and prompt service make them the preferred choice for people who commute to work or to school – it takes less time to get breakfast in a bar than it does to have it at home, and most Italians would also find it more satisfying. Prompt service however comes with a caveat. The busier the place, the more you should know what you want to order before you go in – you don’t want a “no cappuccino for you!” reaction from the bartender. Cash payment is also much preferred because of its speed. Then, after you get served, you are supposed to step aside and consume your breakfast quickly, trying not to exasperate the server and patrons behind you (the fact that it is your turn to be served doesn’t buy you all the time that you want to choose your pastry or dawdle in the bar). Most bars even encourage a quick turnover by having high tables and no sit-down service. You can read more on the Italian Bar in this article.

Bar-style breakfast consists almost exclusively of what the Italians call ‘cappuccino’ and ‘brioche’. We’ve already talked about cappuccino, and its alternatives such as ‘latte macchiato’ (with more milk), coffee ‘macchiato’ (with less milk), or just plain espresso (with no milk at all). By “brioche”, Italians actually mean any kind of baked good, the most common of which is in fact a croissant (‘cornetto’ in Italian) and almost never an actual brioche. A croissant can be “empty” (‘vuoto’), or filled (e.g. with ‘crema pasticcera’ -pastry cream-, apricot jam, chocolate cream, whipped cream, apple filling, almond filling, etc.). Other breakfast pastries which are also usually filled are: ‘fagottino’ (the equivalent of the French ‘pain au chocolat‘, when filled with chocolate), ‘sfogliatina’ (puff pastry pockets), ‘bombolone’ (also called with its German name ‘krapfen‘, the equivalent of a filled donut), ‘girelle’ (twirls) with raisins. Savory croissants, with optional ham and/or cheese, can also be found, but are definitely far less in vogue than the sweet versions. Other savory options are ‘pizzette’ (small puff pastry pizzas, usually with tomato and mozzarella), but are quite hard to find.

In Italy, the maximum price of the main bar menu items is regulated by the law. This makes it so all bars tend to charge the same maximum amounts allowed. While not competing on prices, bars still compete on quality. Pastry shops that are also cafés (called ‘bar pasticceria’) generally offer higher standards for baked goods, compared to regular ‘bars’; this is especially true in small towns. In big cities the bars with the higher customers turnover often get their pastries delivered fresh from pastry shops even multiple times a day and the quality of their baked goods is excellent. Smaller bars instead often bake their croissants themselves (from an industrially made base), and while smelling fantastic because of the onsite baking their croissants are not as good (and sometimes are thought of as more buttery and harder to digest). Still, smaller bars make good business in small towns where the competition is less, still providing a service to their customers.

In conclusion, breakfast is for the Italians a brief yet dear parenthesis in the morning. Even on weekends and holidays people generally don’t go out for sit-down breakfasts. In fact, there are no ‘all day breakfast’ places in Italy (though it’s definitely possible to have a cappuccino all day, it’s uncommon to see people have a croissant in the afternoon, so much so that bars tend to run out of pastries early and don’t replenish). As a result, breakfast in Italy is not necessarily a moment of social aggregation; it’s at most a meet-up point for 2 or 3 individuals.

The lack of savory options in the Italian breakfast also originates other interesting differences between Italy and North America. One difference is that for the Italians eggs are totally a lunch option (as the main or the second course). Another difference is that in Italy there is absolutely nothing like North American brunch; being the Italian breakfast so different from lunch, the two don’t mix: after sleeping in on weekends Italians may just decide to skip breakfast altogether and have their Sunday’s lasagna!

Gelato vs. Ice Cream

What is gelato?

Gelato is not Italian for ice cream. In Italy, the word ‘gelato’ (plural: ‘gelati ‘, literally meaning ‘frozen’ and with nothing to do with gelatin) refers to a product that resembles ice cream, but that is technically quite different, especially in its artisan version.

Gelato is based on a custard typically made with egg, sugar, and whole milk (though there is also a variation called ‘sorbetto’ that doesn’t contain dairies). The hot mix is then allowed to slowly cool off for the water to bind with the milk proteins and ultimately give smaller crystals when frozen. Real fruit, chocolate, nuts are then added as flavors. The freezing process happens in small batches in a mixer, and this incorporates air increasing the volume by 25-30%. Gelato should be stored at a temperature between -10 and -15 °C and consumed within a few days.

Ice cream is usually made with half cream and half milk, normally through a cold mix process. The production lines work in air to double the product’s volume. Ice cream is stored at a temperature around -20 and -25 °C and can last for a few months.

What makes gelato authentic?

What is served as ‘gelato’ is not likely to be authentic if:

Too sweet. Italian gelato gains its flavor from being denser, slightly warmer, and from containing natural, high-quality ingredients, not just sugar. The flavors are generally quite simple (see below) – in Italy, you will find no marshmallows, peanut butter, Oreos, Reese’s and -please!- nothing savory.
Served too cold. Authentic gelato is preserved at a less cold temperature to preserve its creaminess – if the store has too many flavors for what they can sell daily, this is a sign that the product is not freshly made and is deep-frozen to extend its fridge life.
Containing too much fat. Artisan gelato would be completely solid in a deep freezer. If the product is still partly soft, this is a sign of higher fat content (if you get a chance to see it melt, gelato melts quickly turning into a milky drink, ice cream instead slowly separates into a thick foam and a watery runoff).

What is gelato to the Italians?

So, now that we know how to differentiate ice cream (or bad gelato imitations) from authentic gelato, let’s talk about what gelato really is for the Italians.

Gelato is a dessert, a refreshment, a summer treat, and even a small meal. The main place to get gelato is in a ‘gelateria’ (gelato parlor). Gelaterie are very common all throughout Italy, but especially in those cities where it gets particularly hot during the summer. During winter, the ones that stay open often only have limited flavors, or even alternatives such as ‘gelato caldo’ (warm gelato, a relatively new invention which is more of a mousse) or just whipped cream (with cocoa or cinnamon powder). Gelaterie serve gelato to go either in individual portions (in cones or disposable cups), or larger quantities in insulated containers (priced by the liter and considerably cheaper than the equivalent amount bought in individual portions; in some cases empty cones are also available, complimentary or for a fee). More elaborate preparations are sometimes offered, usually intended for sit-down customers (compositions with wafers or biscuits, melted chocolate, whipped cream). Gelaterie, as well as most pastry shops, also may offer ‘semifreddi’ (gelato cakes), and, like many cafés, also use gelato as the base for ‘frullati’ (Italian-style milkshakes), or for ‘affogati’ (gelato drowned in coffee and/or liquors).

As far as flavors go, as we were saying gelato can be of two main types: milk-based (creams – or ‘creme’ in Italian), or water-based (sorbet – or ‘sorbetto’ in Italian), which originated in southern Italy, but is available all throughout the country. Traditional cream gelato flavors include: fior di latte (a neutral gelato base), cioccolato (chocolate), vaniglia (vanilla – which, by the way, has an intense flavor and doesn’t mean flavorless!), stracciatella (fior di latte and chocolate shavings), nocciola (hazelnut), torroncino (from ‘torrone‘), caffè (coffee), pistacchio (pistachio). Newer flavors include Tiramisù and panna cotta (from the corresponding desserts). Traditional sorbets flavors include: limone (lemon), fragola (strawberry), pesca (peach), mango, and other fruits. It has to be noted that even the biggest and most popular gelaterie don’t usually have more than 50-60 flavors, the smaller ones only have 10-20 (a good turnaround is needed since gelato can’t be stored for too long and is usually produced overnight, directly on the premises).

Restaurants also offer gelato as a dessert, either by itself or with fresh fruit. During formal dining, a sorbet is sometimes served as a palate cleanser in-between courses.

Industrially made gelato can also be bought in supermarkets, though this type, slightly higher in fat, is stored at lower temperatures (to extend its shelf life), and needs to be taken out of the freezer ahead of time before being served.

Formaggio – An Introduction to the Many Varieties of Italian Cheese

Even though Italy is a pretty small place, its regions are quite different from one another. And cheese (formaggio , in Italian) is one of the products that changes the most across the territories. Since the area of origin is a big part of what defines each cheese’s properties, many Italian cheeses have a protected denomination under European Union law (PDO – “Protected Designtrecciation of Origin”, or DOP – “Denominazione di Origine Protetta” in Italian). For a cheese to be labeled as PDO, every step of its production needs to happen in a specified geographic area: from local cows eating local hay, through production happening entirely in local facilities, to aging (or, for fresh cheeses, just packing) occurring rigorously in place.

Since Italian cheese names are so representative, in Italy they are never used as adjectives. For instance, you just say Mozzarella , not formaggio Mozzarella. And this even when the cheese name is indeed an adjective (for instance in the case of Parmesan which means ‘from the city of Parma’ – in Italian you just say Parmigiano , in English Parmesan cheese is instead more common). It has to be noted, however, that the name alone doesn’t guarantee the origin. For instance, “Mozzarella” isn’t a PDO cheese per se, while Mozzarella di Bufala Campana is (http://www.mozzarelladop.it/).

Specialized cheese stores in North America can provide a good sampling of the most important cheeses found all around Italy. However, even the best stores are incapable of handling fresh cheeses (some need to be consumed within 3-4 days from their preparation), and locally made equivalents are sometimes sold instead (although, generally, they don’t compare with the originals).

Cheese is considered very highly in Italy. Italians are very proud of and take their cheeses very seriously. They use them in their cuisine, but mostly eat them on their own, just with some bread or accompanied by fruit (pears, grapes), by compotes (figs), or kinds of honey. All aged cheeses go very well with wine. Often, cheese is a course on its own (served at the end of the meal, before fruit or dessert). Eating Italian cheese is a true multi-sensorial experience, from the look, to the aroma, to the deeply multi-faced flavor. And, with the many varieties found from north to south, cheese is also a fascinating journey, both geographically and historically.

Let’s go over the main Italian cheeses, classifying them by the process used to make them.

Formaggi a Pasta Cruda (Uncooked Cheeses)

Fast ripening (less than 30 days):

Caciotta (e.g. Caciotta Toscana DOP) –usually a blend of ewe (70%) and cow (30%)– traditional creamy farmhouse cheese.
Mascarpone –cow– one of the main ingredients of Tiramisù , also used in other preparations as an alternative to heavy cream or butter.
Stracchino –cow– gets its name from the word ‘tired’ (in Lombard dialect: stracco), referring to the fact that used to be made from the milk of cows who were tired because of the transhumance to the valley after the alpine summer.
Caprino –goat– an aged version also exists.

Medium ripening (1-6 months):

Bel Paese (trademark) –cow-.
Taleggio (PDO, Taleggio Valley, Lombardy) –cow– [pronounced “ta’leddʒo”, not “ta’lejeeo”!] when very young, tastes similar to Bel Paese.
Gorgonzola (PDO, Lombardy) –normally, cow– soft and creamy if is less than 2 months aged, crumbly and spicy-hot when aged for longer.

Formaggi a Pasta Semicotta (Semi-cooked Cheeses)

Medium ripening (1-6 months):

Fontina (PDO, Aosta Valley) –cow– soft when younger, harder and more pungent when aged. Differs from Danish fontina which has a red wax rind.
Asiago (PDO, Veneto region) –cow– great on its own as a table cheese, can be used on pasta (grated or in slivers).
Montasio (PDO, Friuli and Veneto regions) –cow– also consumed on its own or added as an ingredient to several dishes.
Piave (trademark, Veneto region) –cow– mostly a table cheese, three varieties are produced: mezzano (medium aged), vecchio (old), and stravecchio (extra-old).

Formaggi a Pasta Cotta (Cooked Cheeses)

Slow ripening (more than 9 months):

Grana Padano (PDO, northen Italy) –cow– considered inferior to Parmigiano Reggiano because aged less (9 months minimum) and produced with less strict quality regulations.
Parmigiano Reggiano (PDO, Provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, Mantua) –cow-, one of the most representative Italian cheeses in the world – its origins can be traced back to the middle ages and the recipe hasn’t changed substantially (this cheese is aged at least 12 months and up to 30). It’s eaten on its own or used as a complement to hundreds of recipes, most pasta dishes, and risottos.
Aged Pecorino – (4 varieties of PDO: Sardo, Romano, Toscano, Siciliano from the corresponding regions) –sheep– a mildly aged variety also exists.

Formaggi a Pasta Filata (Spun Paste Cheeses)

Fast ripening:

Mozzarella –cow, water buffalo– can be made of cow milk, but the one made of water buffalo milk is more renowned and “Mozzarella di Bufala Campana” is PDO. Small sized mozzarellas, usually with high water content are called bocconcini. Similar products are fior di latte and Treccia.
Scamorza (from the Naples area) –cow– both smoked and mild varieties are used for instance on pizza and with pasta.
Burrata (also from southern Italy) –cow or water buffalo- mozzarella on the outside and cream plus mozzarella on the inside. Eaten as is at room temperature is a true delicacy.

Medium ripening (1 month):

Caciocavallo (southern Italy, e.g. PDO Caciocavallo Silano) –sheep, cow– a smoked variety also exists.
Provolone (e.g. PDO “Provolone Val Padana”) –cow– [pronounced provolone-eh!] originated in the south but is now produced mostly in northern Italy.

One characteristic of Italian cheeses that definitely stands out in North America is that they often have some kind of moldy rinds. In general, the rinds are not meant to be eaten (with a few exceptions, e.g. scamorza and provola which have edible rinds), but they are essential for the aging process. Italian stores, whenever possible, try to keep the cheese wheels whole and only slice them to order (this is especially true for fresh or medium ripened cheese; aged cheese gets more “stable” and better maintains its properties when stored).

Even though Italy is a big producer of cheese, a few foreign brands managed to make their way into the Italian cheese market, with moderate success. For instance, in 1971 the American Kraft introduced Philadelphia, a pre-packed cream cheese, and in 1975 a type of cottage cheese (sold under the brand name “Jocca”). Kraft also introduced a kind of processed cheese slices called “Sottilette” (Italian for “thins”). It has to be noted that the words “cottage cheese” and “cream cheese” don’t even exist in Italian, let alone “processed cheese” – these products are exclusively known by their brand names (to Kraft’s advantage).

Espresso Myths

What’s Espresso?

Espresso is what you get if you order a coffee (‘un caffè’) in any Italian café (or ‘Bar’ as Italians call them). Home-made coffee generally isn’t espresso, it’s a short coffee made with a stove-top machine called ‘Caffettiera’ (either ‘Moka’ or ‘Napoletana’). More recently, however, electric espresso machines have appeared in many Italian households.

Italians truly love their coffee and enjoy it several times a day: for breakfast (usually in the form of a ‘Cappuccino’, see below), at break, after lunch, and after dinner. However, most Italians drink single shots – saving the double (or ‘doppio’) for “extreme needs” to wake up (though these days people probably prefer energy drinks). In North America, double is more common.

The difference between an espresso and a coffee made with a Moka is the fact that an espresso machine quickly squeezes pressurized hot water through compressed finely ground coffee, whereas a Moka gently pushes the water through a smaller quantity of mildly compressed coffee. The difference made by the espresso maker is in the remarkable added creaminess and intensity.

Most Italians take their coffees with one or two teaspoons of sugar, some add cold milk or cream. If you add steamed milk to espresso, you get a Caffè Macchiato (not a Machiatto) – which literally means marked or stained coffee (coffee marked/stained with milk). If you add more steamed milk, you get a Cappuccino (not a Capuccino) – which literally means small cap. If you instead add espresso to a glass of steamed milk, then you get a ‘Latte Macchiato’ – which means marked/stained milk (milk marked/stained with coffee). ‘Caffè Latte’ is instead normally any warm milk (including steamed) with any type of coffee (including the regular home-style coffee). ‘Latte’ alone in Italy simply means cold milk.

Espresso Fails

Now, let’s focus on what can go wrong outside of Italy. Here are a few hints that your espresso experience is likely not going to be authentic:
1) If you enter a café, order an espresso, and the attendant (or ‘Barista’) asks you: “For here or to go?”
2) If you hear the attendant operate the grinder dispenser lever more than once for a single or twice for a double (or for two singles).
3) If you get your espresso cup filled up to the top.
4) If your espresso is lukewarm.
5) If your cappuccino is extra hot and the foam is heaping.

Here are some explanations:
1) Nobody in Italy would ask you if you want your espresso “to go”. Espresso to go exists served in special cups with a lid, but it’s very uncommon. An espresso takes 5 minutes at most to drink, generally while standing at the bar and would get cold if consumed any later.
2) The grinder has a dispenser that produces the exact amount of coffee for a single shot. Since quantity is extremely important for the end result, it’s not something that you want to mess with (too much coffee would give a thick cream that would come out so slowly to get cold before you have a chance to drink it; too little coffee would give a lighter tasting coffee without any creaminess). The dispenser operates correctly only when filled with freshly ground coffee; if almost empty, then you’ll have to bang on the lever to get every last bit out, losing control of the quantity.
3) Espresso cups are small, but this doesn’t mean that they have to be filled up to the rim. Perhaps, in North America, the customers might complain saying that they paid for a full cup, but about half is what Italians expect. Espresso cups are either made of thick ceramic and preheated, or thin ceramic, or even glass.
4) Properly made espresso (e.g. in preheated cups) is very hot.
5) ‘Cappuccino’ in Italy is normally not served as hot since the microfoam insulates the drink from the environment, keeping it at the right, sipping temperature. Proper cappuccino foam has small bubbles and looks like cream, not like beaten egg whites!