Stracchino (), also known as ''crescenza'' (), is a type of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

cow's-milk cheese, typical of Lombardy,

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

, and

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

. It is eaten very young, has no rind and a very soft, creamy texture and normally a mild and delicate flavour. It is normally square in shape. The name of the cheese derives from the Lombard adjective ''strach'', meaning "tired". It is said that milk produced by tired cows coming down from the alpine pastures in the autumn is richer in fats and more acidic. These qualities were discovered, according to legend, in the milk of cows who were moved seasonally, up and down the Alps, to different pastures. The milk of such cows gives the cheese its characteristic flavours. Stracchino is usually eaten on its own but also as a filling for some kinds of bread: in

Recco The RECCO is a rescue technology used by organised rescue teams as an additional tool to more quickly locate people buried by an avalanche or lost in the outdoors. The system is based on a harmonic radar system and composed by a detector and a ...

, on the Ligurian riviera east of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

, ''

focaccia Focaccia ( , , ; lij, fugassa ; nap, label= Barese, fecazze ) is a flat leavened oven-baked Italian bread, similar in style and texture to pizza; in some places, it is called ("white pizza"). Focaccia can be served as a side dish or as ...

col formaggio'' ("cheese focaccia") or ''focaccia di Recco'' is typically filled with crescenza, while in

Romagna Romagna ( rgn, Rumâgna) is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, North Italy. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to ...

and in parts of some nearby regions (e.g. northern

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

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and eastern

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

) it is a common filling for the ''cascione'' which is made out of

piadina ''Piadina'' or ''piada'' is a thin Italian flatbread, typically prepared in the Romagna historical region (Forlì, Cesena, Ravenna and Rimini). It is usually made with white flour, lard or olive oil, salt and water. The dough was traditional ...

, a thin flat bread.

References

Italian cheeses Cow's-milk cheeses Ark of Taste foods {{cheese-stub