Provolone (, ) is an Italian

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During productio ...

. It is an aged ''

pasta filata (Italian: "spun paste") is a technique in the manufacture of a family of Italian cheeses also known in English as stretched-curd, pulled-curd, and plastic-curd cheeses. Stretched curd cheeses manufactured from the pasta filata technique undergo ...

'' (stretched-curd) cheese originating in

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

near

Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of ...

, where it is still produced in

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosacea ...

, sausage, or cone shapes long. Provolone-type cheeses are also produced in other countries. The most important provolone production region today is Northwestern Italy and the city of

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of the ...

. Provolone, provola, and provoleta are versions of the same basic cheese. Some versions of provolone are

smoked Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Meat, fish, and '' lapsang souchong'' tea are often smoked. In Europe, alder is the tra ...

.''Great Chicken Dishes''
p. 165.

History and varieties

The term ''provolone'' (meaning "large provola") appeared around the end of the 19th century, when it started to be manufactured in the southern regions of Italy and assumed its current large size. The smaller sized variant is called provola and comes in plain and

(''affumicata'') varieties. Modern provolone is a full-fat cow's milk cheese with a smooth skin, produced mainly in the

Po River The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. T ...

Valley regions of

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and

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

. It is produced in different shapes: like a very large sausage which may be up to in diameter and long, in a truncated bottle shape, and in a large pear shape with the characteristic round knob for hanging. The typical weight is . Provolone is a semi-hard cheese with taste varying greatly from ''provolone piccante'' (sharp, piquant), aged for a minimum of four months and with a very sharp taste, to ''provolone dolce'' (sweet) with a very mild taste. In ''provolone piccante'', the distinctive piquant taste is produced with

lipase Lipase ( ) is a family of enzymes that catalyzes the hydrolysis of fats. Some lipases display broad substrate scope including esters of cholesterol, phospholipids, and of lipid-soluble vitamins and sphingomyelinases; however, these are usually ...

(enzyme) derived from goat. The ''dolce'' version uses calf's lipase instead. Both ''Provolone Valpadana'' and ''Provolone del Monaco'' (meaning "monk's provolone"; from the

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

area of Italy) have received

Protected Designation of Origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...

(PDO) from the European Union, meaning no country other than Italy may legally produce a cheese called that. In

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, small discs of locally produced pulled-curd provolone of in diameter and in height are sometimes grilled until partially melted and eaten as a starter, often seasoned with herbs. The cheese when served this way is often called ''

provoleta Provoleta is an Argentine variant of provolone cheese described as "Argentine pulled-curd Provolone cheese". It is eaten grilled in Argentina and Uruguay. It can be made on a grill, or indoors in a cast-iron pan. The cheese should be firm and abl ...

'' in Spanish.

References

{{Italian cheeses Italian cheeses Cuisine of Campania Cow's-milk cheeses Italian products with protected designation of origin Cheeses with designation of origin protected in the European Union Smoked cheeses Stretched-curd cheeses Lombard cheeses

History and varieties

See also

References