ACS CCP® Sheri Allen continues her deep diving into the blues with Gorgonzola DOP at our Facebook Cheese Study Group:
Spring weather can be cold, rainy, snowy and a bit BLUE but the cure for the Blues is some Blue Cheese. Perhaps on a salad, burger or steak there’s no denying these cheeses with blue molds from the penicillin family bring an array of buttery, spicy, salty, steely, peppery flavors along with textures from crumbly to creamy. The hint of bacon, burnt caramel on the finish with some blues is seductive and everything about a Gorgonzola Dolce is sexy from it’s name to i’s melt in the mouth texture and sweet, spicy tang. It’s thought to be the first blue cheese and it comes with romantic folklore story- what’s not to love about this cheese?! Eat it with some honey drizzled on a rustic date walnut loaf of bread and a fortified wine with your love.
GORGONZOLA (DOP 1955/ EU PDO 1996)
The Romance story behind this Italian Blue from Lombardy and Piedmont regions is: one evening a love struck youth rushed to meet his lover, left a vat of curds open all night, returned later and in order to cover up his mistake, added fresh curds the following day. A few months later into the aging, he discovered that a bluish mold had invaded his cheeses. At first embarrassed and then pleasantly surprised when he tasted it, he realized it had a delicate and interesting taste. This cheesemaker casually discovered the process of “eborinatura” that means the creation of molds. The name “eborinatura” derives from the Lombardy dialectical word eburin which means parsley, because of the greenish streaks in the cheese structure.
Penicillium Glaucum is responsible for the greenish/blue mold within Gorgonzola.Known for two different types of production: Dolce (sweet) and Piccante (savory). Gorgonzola Dolce represents approx. 90% of total Gorgonzola production. Gorgonzola is the third Italian cheese by quantity produced after Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano.
A Consortium was created in 1970 to ensure Gorgonzola was made with milk within designated areas by approved producers. Novara, Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Cuneo, Lecco, Lodi, Milan, Pavia, Varese, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and Vercelli, as well as a number of comuni in the area of Casale Monferrato (province of Alessandria).
Cow Milk: Pasteurized
Affinage: 3-4 months
Fat Content: 25- 35%Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgonzola
Additional References:
Page 110/111 World Cheese Book Juliet Harbutt
Page 322/323 Oxford Companion to Cheese
THIS JUST IN: THANKS TO THE GENEROSITY OF SO MANY IN OUR CHEESE COMMUNITY, OUR FIRST ACS CCP EXAM® HAS BEEN FULLY FUNDED!! Plus we are 50% toward funding a second scholarship for an ACS CCP® to attend the ACS Conference in Denver.
Our Facebook Cheese Study Group is raising funds to send worthy ACS CCP exam® candidates and ACS CCPs® who want to attend the 2017 ACS Conference in Denver, Cheese With Altitude. You can apply for a scholarship by clicking hereand you can contribute to the scholarship fund by clicking here. All monies raised (withe the exception of the fees charged by GoFundMe) go to the winners of the scholarship. everyone involved in the scholarship efforts is donating their time and receiving NO fees or monetary compensation… just the feeling of helping those who need our help. Complete rules and information can be found here.
Applications must be submitted by 5pm April 15th.
You must be logged in to post a comment.