Gorgonzola

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Gorgonzola is Italy's great blue cheese — a cow's milk cheese veined with Penicillium roqueforti mould, produced in the provinces of Milan, Como, Pavia, Bergamo, and Novara in Lombardy, and in the province of Novara in Piedmont. It holds DOP status and is produced in two distinct styles: Gorgonzola Dolce (sweet, young, 50-90 days aged, creamy and mild) and Gorgonzola Piccante (spicy, aged 80-270 days, firmer, with more pronounced blue veining and a sharper, more complex flavour). The production technique begins with whole cow's milk heated and coagulated with rennet, with Penicillium roqueforti spores added either to the milk or to the curd. The curd is placed in cylindrical moulds, and after initial draining and salting, the wheels are pierced with long stainless steel needles (agatura) — this creates channels through which oxygen enters the cheese, allowing the blue mould to develop and spread in the characteristic marbled veining pattern. The agatura is the defining technique of blue cheese production: without it, the mould would remain on the surface and the interior would stay white. For Gorgonzola Dolce, the piercing is lighter and the ageing shorter, producing a creamy, spreadable cheese with gentle blue-green marbling and a sweet, milky flavour with just a hint of tang. For Piccante, the piercing is more thorough and the ageing longer, producing a crumbly, assertive cheese with intense blue veining and a sharp, piquant flavour that can challenge the unprepared palate. In the Lombard kitchen, Gorgonzola is used in risotto (risotto al Gorgonzola), melted into cream sauces for pasta (penne al Gorgonzola), served on polenta, and eaten as a table cheese with honey, walnuts, and fresh pears.

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