Dubai:  Please, don’t make that mistake.  The cheese on the famous pizzas and in the delicious fettuccini is an Italian cheese and is not coming from another place in the world.

The pizza’s mozzarella and the pasta’s and risotto’s cheese Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano are among the known Italian cheese in the world.

Italy, which is among the top cheese producers in the globe, produces some 500 kinds of cheese, 50 kinds of them have the PDO  European label (Protected Designation of Origin) – these products have characteristics that are strictly related to a geographic area.

And this is what distinguished Italian cheese, said Luca Cracco, marketing and quality manager of the consortium for the protection of Asiago Cheese.

“For example, Asiago from the mountains of Asiago where they are produced and which is 1,000 meters of attitude,” Cracco said during his recent visit to Dubai to participate in Gulf Food exhibition. The Italian pavilion offered some cheese and cheese-based dishes for trial.

“Only you will find the right climate, the right condition to produce that particular cheese.   The environment and the cows are typical for that area,” he added.

Like Asiago, Gorgonzola and Grana Padano cheeses are produced in Northern Italy.  Pecorino Toscano is produced in central Italy and Mozzarella di Bufala campana  in southern Italy.    As for Pecorino Romano cheese, it is produced in Sardinia Island and in Lazio, in central Italy.

Apart from geographical location, maturation days, shape and type of milk used to produce the cheese also distinguish the Italian cheeses, said Cracco.

For example, Mozzarella is made from buffalo’s milk, while Pecorino Romano and Pecorino Toscano are made from Sheep’s milk, Grana Padano and Gorgonzola is made of cow’s milk.   Some cheeses are made of skimmed or semi-skimmed milk.

Taste is also different. It ranges from soft, spicy, fragrant and mild, Cracco noted.

In Italian cuisine, cheese is always prominent; whether as a starter with a sweet topping, such as figs jam or honey, or as an ingredient, as in cooking Cannelloni, or as a topping on cooked pasta or risotto. 

Italians pride themselves that they are citizens of a country that is known of four Fs (Ferrari, Fashion, Furniture and Food).  

In the first 10 months of 2014, Italy exported 9 million Euro of dairy, with an increment of 33% in comparison with same period of 2013.   As for cheeses, Italy produces nearly 1.3 million tons of Cheese, and a turnover of 2.5 billion Euros, 32% of which is exported.

Recipes:   

Mushrooms with crusty bread and Asiago Fresh

Ingredients ( 2 servings)

  • 100 g Asiago Fresh
  • 200 g mushrooms
  • 100 g loaf of bread
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt to taste

Preparation:  

Wash the mushroom and drain well.   Sauté the mushroom in a frying pan with extra virgin olive oil and salt.  Put them on a plate on top of hot toasted bread cut in cubes and lastly add thinly sliced Asiago cheese. 

Gorgonzola cheese with Brussels Sprouts (4 servings)

Ingredients:

  • 200 sweet Gorgonzola
  • 30 g butter
  • 400 g Brussels sprouts
  • 8 walnuts kernels
  • 20g breadcrumbs

Preparation: 

  • Clean the sprouts and remove the outer leaves and steams cook them for 15 minutes.  
  • Whey ready, place them in an oven pan, and Gorgonzola chees and a spoonful of breadcrumbs.
  • Fine down the butter in a pan and let it melt until it becomes like oil.
  • Soak breadcrumbs with a spoon of fined-down butter and a sprinkle everything with chopped walnuts.
  • Put the oven pan in oven at 220C for 10 minutes, until the golden crust has formed on the sprouts.
  • Remove from oven and serve immediately.