It was created in the Po Valley (aka Padana Valley) towards the second half of the nineteenth century from the happy union between the dairy culture of “stretched curd”, coming from the south of Italy, and the dairy vocation of the area. In 1861 the unification of Italy made it possible to overcome the barriers between the different areas of the Peninsula and, therefore, the settlement of entrepreneurs from the south, who had transferred their production activities to the provinces of Cremona, Brescia and Piacenza. The Po Valley offers a large supply of milk suitable for dairy processing and also the necessary infrastructure for achieving quality productions, which find an evolution in Provolone produced in diversified formats (from a few pounds to over a quintal).
Provolone Valpadana is a semi-hard stretched curd cheese with a smooth rind, made from whole cow’s milk with natural fermentation acidity. They come different sizes with shapes varying from salami, melon, truncated cone and pear also surmounted by a spherical head.
A completely original cheese, distinguishable from other stretched curds, as it is large in size, capable of aging for a long time without drying excessively and therefore without becoming cheese to be grated.
The rind is smooth, thin, light yellow, golden, sometimes brownish yellow.
The inside, generally straw yellow in colour, is compact, but may have slight, sparse holes and slight flaking in the short-aged cheese, while a more marked flaking is characteristic in the long-aged cheese.
The flavour is delicate until matured for three months, more pronounced at more advanced maturation.