Gorgonzola

Gorgonzola is a well-known Italian blue cheese made from cow's milk, with a soft, buttery paste (or a firmer one, depending on the ageing) shot through with green veining. Its origins are somewhat uncertain: some maintain that it was first made in Gorgonzola, a town near Milan – which would have given the cheese its name – while others insist that it was «born» in a small village of the Valsassina, a Lombard valley where there were natural caves ideal for the development of the moulds typical of this cheese. Wheels of gorgonzola have a diameter of between 25 and 30 cm and a thickness that can reach 20 cm.

It is a soft cheese, straw-white in colour, with the characteristic greenish marbling produced by the blue-veining process, that is, selected moulds (penicillium) added to pasteurised whole cow's milk together with lactic ferments. It is produced in two types, whose typical flavour becomes more pronounced with ageing: mild (minimum 50 days), the most sought after, and piquant (over 80 days). Gorgonzola production has spread to 10 provinces in Lombardy and 6 in Piedmont. With a 10% share, gorgonzola ranks third in national production of cow's-milk cheeses. Only after long ageing can the «penicillium» develop that then produces the classic green spots.

31% (4 million wheels) is destined for export. In Italy, gorgonzola is sold mainly in the North (84%), where it is traditionally paired with polenta, rice and pasta dishes, while modern cooking works it into meat or fish preparations and even into desserts. Gorgonzola is excellent as a table cheese, and is also used for sauces, baked dishes, or to finish risottos and dress polenta.