Cheese 'Asiago' 250g approx.

Characteristics of the Asiago cheese

The Asiago cheese comes from the province of Vicenza, Veneto region (Italy) with designation of origin protected at European level. There are several origins of this cheese, but the only official is that is produced in the town of Asiago.

The asiago is a cheese made from cow's milk. Its texture is compact in the paste and somewhat grainy, irregular bubble and pale yellow. In terms of its yellowish crust, not too thick, and is regular and soft to the touch.

We are hablanndo of a cheese that gives off a great smell and has an intense flavor that is accentuated with the passage of time.

The Asiago cheese is produced in two different ways:

• Asiago pressing (cool): Occurs only with whole milk, cooked at 35 degrees, subsequently adding rennet and lactic ferments. Then it proceeds with a second cooking to 45 ° and a salting dry. To continue, the dough is placed in circular molds, where will be crimped using a hydraulic dam around 4 hours. Then the mass will be in brine two days, in places with adequate moisture to remove excess water. Finally, the cheese will be introduced in chambers with controlled temperature and humidity to favor the ripening of the cheese, which can vary between twenty and forty days.
• Asiago d'Allevo (mature): occurs with a mixture of whole and skimmed, milk, cooked to 35 degrees by adding rennet and lactic ferments subsequently. Very next second cooked at 45 ° is made with dry salting and a third firing at 47 degrees. From here the process is identical to the pressed Asiago, with the difference of the maturation process, which will be a minimum of 90 days. In this variation of Asiago can be a second classification containing three possible divisions depending on the length of maturation:
  • Medium: 3 to 8 months.
  • Old: 9 to 18 months.
  • Stravecchio: More than 3 years.

Depending on the type of Asiago, their applications for the kitchen will be different. On the one hand, the more mature Asiago is normally used to be grated in salads, soups and pasta dishes, while the cooler is used for pizzas, sandwiches and paninis.