🧀 Provolone Valpadana

Provolone Valpadana is an Italian semi-hard stretched-curd (pasta filata) cheese with a protected designation of origin (PDO), made from raw whole cows' milk collected in the area of origin within 60 hours. Under the specification the milk may be heat-treated: pasteurised for the mild variety and for tangy cheeses up to 6 kg, thermised for the tangy variety.

Two varieties. The mild variety has a delicate taste; the tangy one grows sharper with ageing or when goat or lamb rennet is used. Minimum maturation is 10 days up to 6 kg, 30 days above 6 kg and 90 days for tangy cheeses above 15 kg. Tangy cheeses over 30 kg matured for more than 8 months may bear the fire brand P.V.S. (Provolone Valpadana Stagionato).

Look and texture. Shapes include sausage, melon and pear, sometimes with a round flask-shaped top (fiaschetta); sizes can exceed 30 kg. The rind is smooth, thin, light yellow to golden, with small indents from the supporting cords. The paste is compact, pale yellow, with occasional small holes. Water content is at most 46% (43% for tangy cheeses above 6 kg); fat in dry matter is 44–54%. The cheese may also be smoked.

Area and labelling. All production takes place in the provinces of Cremona, Brescia, Verona, Vicenza, Rovigo, Padova and Piacenza, in adjoining municipalities of Bergamo, Mantova and Lodi, and in the Autonomous Province of Trento. Whole cheeses carry the PDO logo on a tamper-proof tag. According to the specification, the cheese has been made in this area since the second half of the 19th century.