Asiago 
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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 generic in the U.S. and Australia.
Key Facts
| Country of Origin | Italy |
| Specific Origin | Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy |
| Protection | PDO (1996) |
| Milk Treatment | Raw (Asiago d'allevo) |
| Rind | Thin, elastic (Asiago pressato) |
| Texture | Hard , Semi-Hard |
| Flavor | Sweetish when young, bitter and spicy when very old |
| Colors | White to slightly yellowish when fresh, straw to amber when aged |
| Forms | Cylindrical wheels, 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16 in) across, 11 to 15 kg (24 to 33 lb) |
| Age | 20 to 40 days fresh; 60 days to 15 months or more aged |
| Rennet Type | Rennet |
What is Asiago Cheese?
Asiago takes its name from the Asiago plateau in north-east Italy, where it was first made. From the 10th to the 15th centuries the plateau's pastures fed sheep, and the cheese made there was called Pegorin. Production spread to nearby areas in the 1700s, and the long-matured Asiago d'allevo took shape over the 18th and 19th centuries. The quicker Asiago pressato came only in the early 1900s. Italian immigrants brought the cheese to the United States in the 1920s, where it later turned up in shredded cheese blends and on the asiago bagel.
Pressato starts from fresh whole milk heated to 35 °C (95 °F), with rennet and lipase added to set it. The curd is cut to the size of a nut, cooked again near 45 °C (113 °F), pressed in perforated molds for about four hours, brined for two days, then dried for 20 to 40 days. Asiago d'allevo uses a mix of whole and skimmed raw milk, a finer curd broken to rice-sized grains, two further firings at 40 and 47 °C (104 and 117 °F), salting either dry or in brine, and at least 60 days of ageing in warehouses held around 10 to 15 °C (50 to 59 °F) at 80 to 85 percent humidity.
Wheels are cylindrical, 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16 in) across and about 15 cm (5.9 in) tall, averaging 11 to 15 kg (24 to 33 lb). Young pressato has a thin elastic rind and a soft, buttery paste, white to faintly yellow. Ageing changes everything. Mezzano, at four to six months, is compact and straw-colored with a sweetish taste. Vecchio, at 10 to 16 months, turns hard and bitter. Stravecchio, 15 months and up, is very hard and grainy, amber in color, bitter and spicy.
The aged cheese is usually grated over salads, soups, pasta and sauces. Fresh Asiago gets sliced for panini and sandwiches, melted onto other dishes, or eaten with cantaloupe. Cheesemakers classify it as a Swiss-type or Alpine cheese.
Inside the EU, Asiago is a DOP product, authentic only when made in its defined area under the Disciplinare di produzione. That protection stops at the EU border. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has ruled repeatedly that asiago is a generic term, and in 2019 the Consorzio Tutela Formaggio Asiago dropped its American trademark effort. IP Australia rejected a similar claim in 2018.
How Does Asiago Cheese Compare?
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