Gorgonzola

Gorgonzola is a soft cheese with a white straw colour, curdled at 28-32° with veal rennet. About one hundred litres of milk go into making a 12 Kg wheel of cheese. The cheese is prepared by layering cooled curds.

After a few days the cheese is dry-salted for several days at a temperature of 18-20 °. The aging process, which lasts from two to three months, is carried out in a humid environment at 2-4 °. During maturation, the cheese is pierced several times to encourage the development of various strains of pennicillum, characteristic of gorgonzola and the element responsible for the cheese's green / blue colour (marbling)

While it is not known exactly when this cheese was originally made, its earliest historic traces date back to the 15th century, in the town of Gorgonzola, near Milan, from which it takes its name. There are many legends surrounding its origins. Some people attribute its creation to a young dairyman who, in love with the daughter of his master and distracted by the thought of his darling, mistakenly blended two different curds together to form this strange cheese. Others, however, link its origins to the passage of a comet above the town of Gorgonzola.

There are two main types Gorgonzola: the mild variety – a creamy, soft cheese with a distinctive and slightly sharp flavour; and sharp: with a decisive flavour and hard texture, more consistent and friable.