Cheese is both a popular and ancient food. Its consumption is worldwide with millions of tonnes being produced annually. Archaeological evidence suggests that it has been made by human beings for thousands of years with resins of milk fat being detected in ancient pottery, suggesting that it was used in cheese production.

Over the centuries, one of the countries that has become synonymous with cheese is Italy. This is probably due to the fact that over the centuries a wide variety of different cheeses evolved here. Alongside this rich cheese tradition, modern marketing probably also has something to do with the popularity of Italian cheese. For example, Parmagiano Reggiano, otherwise known as Parmesan, is undoubtedly a quality cheese and one of the best known and most popular cheeses around, but there are other cheeses that aren’t far off it in terms of what they offer. I could recommend some Lithuanian hard cheese that I tried for example.

Cheese comes in many different types and as just mentioned Italian cheese in particular covers a wide range of varieties. A very simple way of classifying cheese is as soft, medium and hard cheese. This is a classification based on the different firmness (due to differing moisture contents) of cheeses. Obviously, this is a slightly arbitrary characteristic as there is no clear distinction between soft and medium or medium and hard. In other words, in many cases it’s a matter of personal opinion as to whether a cheese is soft, medium or hard. For some cheeses the distinction is clear cut (as it were!) such as parmesan being a hard cheese or ricotta a soft cheese but what about Gorgonzola? Is it soft or medium?

Cheese Origins

Nobody really knows exactly how cheese came about. It’s not a subject that the ancients wrote much about. What we do know is that the art of making cheese was practiced early. There are many references to people in days long ago keeping flocks (according to the Bible in Genesis 4 we see that Abel, the fourth human being alive was already tending a flock!) so it’s not hard to imagine that they stumbled upon the process of converting milk into some sort of cheese and realised that this would be a good way to preserve it.

Simple cheese can be made by heating milk to increase its acidity which results in the solid curd separating from the whey and hey presto you have cheese. Alternatively, has legend has it, milk could have been transported in early days in primitive containers made of animal stomach. In the transportation process, these stomach containers could have churned about causing the remnants of rennet enzymes in the stomach getting to work and separating the curd from the whey hence inadvertently producing cheese.

via GIPHY

From milk to the hard stuff

Of course, these probably accidently discovered first cheese processes gave rise only to basic soft cheeses. Overtime though, it would have been noticed that leaving the soft curd in certain conditions, rather than spoiling it, caused it to develop further, forming other times of cheese.

The principal here is that as moisture evaporates and bacterial work on the proteins in the curd, different properties can be given to the cheese. Obviously, the conditions used are important as, if not carefully controlled, things can get out of hand and you end up with a ball of fungus. Not so tasty!

Italian Style

Italy is a fairly large country with a diverse terrain, mountains, a lot of coastline and various plains in between. Also, it was a historically divided land with lots of different, relatively diverse and independent regions. Thus, each area developed its own way of processing milk into cheese resulting in many local varieties, any of which have survived in one form or the other to the modern day.

Among these many types of Italian cheeses, there are all kinds, ranging from completely soft ricotta through firmish Gorgonzola to rock hard (ok, not quite rock like because than Italians wouldn’t have any teeth) Parmagiano Reggiano, or Parmesan if you will. Many of these cheese types are now world famous but there’s something special about the hard cheeses.

Maybe this is a legacy of Roman days when hard cheeses were used as rations for soldiers due to the fact that they were a good way of preserving nutrients?

Modern Cheese

Today, there are many hard Italian cheeses produced and sold in large quantities through out the world. Many of these are household names such as Parmesan, which is actually Parmigiano Reggiano by its authentic name. The specific of this cheese is that it is made in a certain area of Italy around Parma and Reggio Emilia. The process of making involves draining out as much water as possible from the curd and that after heavily salting the cheese, it is left along time often at least a year to more than two years to mature. This all results in a lot of moisture loss and leaves a fine crystalline structure and a sharp, salty taste. Thus, much goodness is preserved and the cheese can be used for grating to add something special to many dishes.

Another very popular cheese is Grana Padano. In essence this is very similar to Parmigiano Reggiano, the main difference being that it is produced in neighbouring area of Northern Italy which means some of the ingredients and production conditions can differ. For example, the qualities of local milk obviously depend on the pasture that local cows have been grazed in. To the uninitiated though, there is little difference except that Grana Padano is slightly cheaper due to not being as renowned Parmigiano Reggiano. Thus, it makes for a good alternative!

A third branch of Italian hard cheese are the Pecorino cheese. These are cheese made from sheep’s milk (pecora means sheep in Italian!). There are a number of them about. One of these is Pecorino Toscano, which is the version of Pecorino cheese made in the Tuscany region of Italy and thus influenced by the conditions there.

Final Word

All in all, there are many Italian hard cheeses to try. They have a variety of uses but general come i to their own as good grating cheeses, due to their hardness, which add both nutrition and flavour to various dishes. Indeed, they are all very salty as a result of the production process which adds much salt to preserve them, so are best enjoyed in moderation, as in fact are most things!