Gorgonzola

Description

The appearance of Gorgonzola is almost indistinguishable. It is, in fact, a white raw cheese, characterized by the presence of green streaks due to the mold formation process (marbling) due to the addition of Penicillium spores to pasteurized milk. The consistency of the cheese is soft and creamy, while the rind is slightly rougher and characterized by shades of reddish colour. As for the flavour, we can distinguish two different types of Gorgonzola:

sweet gorgonzola, i.e. soft, creamy and with a sweet taste, which boasts only a slightly spicy aftertaste;
spicy gorgorzola, i.e. a cheese that is distinguished by a semi-hard, almost crumbly consistency and a stronger and more spicy flavour.
What is this difference due to? Undoubtedly the seasoning, which varies between 50 and 150 days for sweet Gorgonzola, and between 80 and 270 for the spicy one (which makes it even more similar, in taste and consistency, to French blue cheeses). What unites the two different types, however, is the production area, which is identified in the two different regions of Lombardy and Piedmont – and more precisely in the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia, Biella, Como, Cremona, Cuneo, Lecco, Lodi, Milan , Monza-Brianza, Novara, Pavia, Varese, Verbania and Vercelli.