Cheeses from Italy

Mozzarella is a semi-soft, non-aged cheese from southern Italy, made by stretching and kneading the curd. Cow's milk versions are called fior di latte, buffalo milk versions mozzarella di bufala, and it tops most pizza.

Taleggio is a semisoft Italian cheese with a washed, smear-ripened rind and a strong smell. The taste is milder than the aroma suggests, creamy and pale yellow inside, with an unusual fruity tang.

Provolone is an Italian semi-hard cheese made from cow's milk with a stretched curd. It runs from the very sharp piccante, aged at least four months, to the mild dolce.

Parmigiano Reggiano is a hard, granular Italian cheese made from unpasteurised cow's milk and aged at least 12 months. Protected as a PDO across Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and parts of Bologna and Mantua, it is known for its sharp, …

Scamorza is a southern Italian pasta filata cheese, usually made from cow's milk. It is tied with string and hung to dry into a pear-like shape, sold unsmoked or smoked, and works as a substitute for mozzarella in most dishes.

Caciocavallo is a stretched-curd cheese from southern Italy, made with sheep's or cow's milk and shaped like a teardrop. It has a hard edible rind and tastes much like the aged provolone of the same region.

Mascarpone is a soft Italian dairy product made by coagulating cream with acid and heat, without rennet and without aging. Milky white and easy to spread, it is best known as the base of tiramisu.

Pecorino Romano is a hard, salty Italian cheese made only from sheep milk, most often grated over pasta. It began in the countryside around Rome and is now made almost entirely in Sardinia.

Roccaverano, long called Robiola di Roccaverano, is a protected goat cheese from Piedmont, named after the village of Roccaverano in the Langa Astigiana. Since 2023 it must be made entirely from raw goat's milk, and it is eaten young or …

Gorgonzola is an Italian blue cheese made from unskimmed cow's milk, named for a town near Milan. It comes in two styles: dolce, mild and buttery, and piccante, sharper with a firm, crumbly body.

Grana Padano is a hard, grainy cheese from Italy's Po Valley, made with semi-skimmed unpasteurized cow's milk and ripened at least nine months. It is made much like Parmesan but under looser rules, and young wheels taste milder and less …

Montasio is a cow's milk mountain cheese from Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Veneto in northeastern Italy, made on the Montasio plateau since 1200. It is semi-hard and creamy when young, and harder after longer aging.

Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese from Puglia with a pouch of stretched mozzarella curd around a filling of stracciatella and cream. Cut it open and the soft centre spills out, which is what it is known for.

Stracchino, also called crescenza, is an Italian cow's milk cheese made in Lombardy, Tuscany, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Liguria. It is eaten very young, with no rind, a soft creamy body and a mild, slightly acidic flavor.

Stelvio, known in German as Stilfser, is a protected designation of origin cow's milk cheese from the Autonomous Province of Bolzano in northern Italy. It is known for its yellow to orange-brown rind, springy pale yellow paste, and pronounced, sometimes …

Asiago is a cow's milk cheese from the Asiago plateau in Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy, made either young and soft (Asiago pressato) or aged and crumbly (Asiago d'allevo). It carries Italian DOP status, though the name is treated as …

Mozzarella di Bufala Campana is a fresh, soft pasta filata cheese made from the milk of the Italian Mediterranean buffalo, produced in Campania and a few nearby areas under PDO rules. By production value it is Italy's fourth PDO product.

Ricotta is an Italian whey cheese made from the leftover whey of sheep, cow, goat, or water buffalo milk cheesemaking. The fresh curds are creamy white and slightly sweet, and they turn up in cannoli and cheesecakes as readily as …

Toma Piemontese is the Piedmont version of Toma, a cow's milk cheese that runs from soft to semi-hard and melts well. It is the variety that carries protected designation of origin status under EU legislation.

Provolone del Monaco is an Italian cheese made from the milk of the Agerolese cow in the hills behind Naples. It is named for the heavy cloaks its makers wore when they landed at the port of Naples, and it …