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Fête du Fromage is back at Loulou's after the summer break and this time I would like to introduce you to Fontina:
Fontina is an Italian cheese from the valley of Aosta.
It is made of cow's milk and the real Fontina Val d' Aosta must even be made with milk from a single milking, to ensure a homogeneous flavour to the milk (and therefore the cheese).
The real thing is protected by a DOP seal (Protected Designation of Origin), which unfortunately does not preclude the cheese to be copied and sold under various guises in particular in Denmark (the European champions as far as cheese copying is concerned), Sweden and also France apparently (that is according to Wikipedia, although I am not so sure why we would bother copying a foreign product when we have so many good ones of our own...).
At 45% fat content, this is a very rich cheese and its texture goes from soft to semi cured with age. Most of the examples sold by the Consortium that regulate the product has a firm yet still fairly buttery texture, as shown on the sample above.
You can cut slices (with difficulty) but you can't spread it.
What you can do - and it is hinted at by the name - is melt it.
I put it on pizza or piadine every now and then:
(Here on a piadina - a typical flat bread from Emilia-Romagna)
The taste is mild, slightly nutty and you can still feel the grass in the aftertaste (in particular in the specimen produced in spring and summer) as well as a definite fruity taste. For this reason, when eaten on its own, is is often consumed with pears (the Italian favorite pairing for cheese) or grapes.
Because of its easy melting, it is used often in cheese sauces for the pasta (quatro formaggi), is put on pizza or piadine as mentioned above, is used in oven dishes or in grilled sandwiches,
It is used in Fondue (or the Italian equivalent, Fonduta) and could be used for a dish of Raclette (even if the purists would only use real Raclette cheese).
Now I am hungry.
Time for breakfast, I suppose...
Fontina is an Italian cheese from the valley of Aosta.
It is made of cow's milk and the real Fontina Val d' Aosta must even be made with milk from a single milking, to ensure a homogeneous flavour to the milk (and therefore the cheese).
The real thing is protected by a DOP seal (Protected Designation of Origin), which unfortunately does not preclude the cheese to be copied and sold under various guises in particular in Denmark (the European champions as far as cheese copying is concerned), Sweden and also France apparently (that is according to Wikipedia, although I am not so sure why we would bother copying a foreign product when we have so many good ones of our own...).
At 45% fat content, this is a very rich cheese and its texture goes from soft to semi cured with age. Most of the examples sold by the Consortium that regulate the product has a firm yet still fairly buttery texture, as shown on the sample above.
You can cut slices (with difficulty) but you can't spread it.
What you can do - and it is hinted at by the name - is melt it.
I put it on pizza or piadine every now and then:
(Here on a piadina - a typical flat bread from Emilia-Romagna)
The taste is mild, slightly nutty and you can still feel the grass in the aftertaste (in particular in the specimen produced in spring and summer) as well as a definite fruity taste. For this reason, when eaten on its own, is is often consumed with pears (the Italian favorite pairing for cheese) or grapes.
Because of its easy melting, it is used often in cheese sauces for the pasta (quatro formaggi), is put on pizza or piadine as mentioned above, is used in oven dishes or in grilled sandwiches,
It is used in Fondue (or the Italian equivalent, Fonduta) and could be used for a dish of Raclette (even if the purists would only use real Raclette cheese).
Now I am hungry.
Time for breakfast, I suppose...
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