Strong
Taste and flavor of spicy Provolone Valpadana DOP: production and pairings
Spicy Provolone Valpadana is perhaps the best-known version of this cheese. Its strong taste makes it a perfect ally in the kitchen for any type of dish, come on appetizers to the seconds passing through i first.
The Provolone Valpadana spicy contrasts with its twin mild, characterized instead by a more delicate taste.
The spicy cheese it is a stretched curd cheese, so called because of its processing method which includes, in addition to the classic one maturation period, the spinning.
Salami
Melon-pear
TRUNCATED-CONE
Flask
It is the months of maturation that give spicy Provolone Valpadana its typical taste
How it is produced
Spicy Provolone Valpadana has a production process that starts in the same way as its sweet version. The milk is in fact enriched with whey starter coming from whey from previous processing.
At this point the magic happens: the milk is coagulated with kid and/or lamb rennet, and the curd is left to rest until it reaches the right stretching PH. The dough is shaped and placed in special molds to cool in ice water and then in brine.
The seasoning
After salting in brine it is time for maturing: while for the sweet version it can last 60/90 days, in the case of the spicy Provolone Valpadana it can last even over 12 months.
It is precisely during this time interval that Provolone Valpadana reaches that level of highly intense taste and aroma.
The pairings
The spicy Provolone Valpadana thanks to its strong taste finds its perfect match in full-bodied wines such as Aglianico, Gattinara and Barbera d'Asti.
As far as food is concerned, however, it is best to combine it with delicate flavours, in order to obtain an overall balanced taste. In our recipes section you can find lots of ideas for using it in the kitchen!
The appearance of spicy Provolone Valpadana PDO: the shapes and weight
After all the tying and branding operations, the spicy Provolone Valpadana has a yellow-brown colour, a hard and thin rind and an interior with marked flaking.
This makes this spicy cheese variant an ideal dish to serve both alone and as an accompaniment to numerous dishes recipes.
The shapes can also be variable. The most typical ones are:
- Flask style
- TRUNCATED-CONE
- Salami
- Melon-pear
The weight can vary from a few ounces to over 100 kg. Spicy Provolone Valpadana is also available in supermarkets in pre-packaged format, always accompanied by the protected designation of origin and the authorization number that the Consortium issues to the packager.
