Welcome back to the cheese corner. After focusing on the cheese of France for the last two issues, we’ll be returning to Italy with asiago cheese.
Hailing from the alpine township of Asiago, Italy, Asiago is a varied cheese in that it changes a lot depending on how much it has aged. We’ll be focusing on aged asiago, also known as Asiago D’allevo, rather than its smoother and less pungent fresh counterpart, Asiago Pressato or fresh asiago.
Asiago D’Allevo has a famously crumbly texture. While it isn’t incredibly strong, it’s still more distinct in taste than Asiago Pressato, and its delicious and nutty taste is what really makes it stand out. After one tasting of this nutty-flavored cheese, it becomes apparent that aged asiago is a brief delight and it’s hard to get enough of it.
The differences between aged and fresh asiago don’t only end at the texture and taste though; their creation process also varies. First developed in medieval Italy, it is created by either only using whole milk for Asiago Pressato, or a mixture of skimmed milk and whole milk for Asiago D’Allevo.
After the milk, the different kinds of asiago have a more similar process, with both having rennet and enzymes added in once they have already been heated to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. After this step forms curds, the Asiago is kneaded and heated to an even higher temperature, which is where their creation processes diverge again.
Asiago Pressato gets salted and pressed (Asiago Pressato means pressed Asiago), before being dried, put in brine, and then dried again, which takes a bit over a month. But Asiago D’Allevo needs a lot more time to really be as aged as its English name suggests.
After its high heating, aged asiago is placed into molds. Next, to get rid of its whey, the cheese is frequently turned on a wheel in a draining process. It is then salted through brine or just putting salt on it, after which its lengthy aging process takes two months at minimum and can go on for much longer, all the way up to two years.
For readers old and young, I hope you can enjoy Asiago aged and fresh wherever and whenever you find it. For me, it was the 320 Market Cafe’, but any place where cheese is available could provide an opportunity to see great cheese like Asiago and more!
