Provolone Valpadana DOP maturing
The maturing of Provolone Valpadana DOP requires skill and patience: here's how it happens
Two fundamental ingredients are needed to mature Provolone Valpadana: time and patience. Only in this way, in fact, can the most famous stretched curd cheese in Italy acquire that unique flavor that makes it a dish with a unique taste.
Among the cheeses, the Provolone Valpadana can boast two completely different versions, the one mild and that one spicy cheese. This is true not only in the final result, but also in the manufacturing process itself.
Even before spinning, in fact, the milk is combined with two versions of rennet:
Veal in the case of sweet Provolone Valpadana;
Of goat and/or lamb in the case of spicy Provolone Valpadana.
Salami
Melon-pear
TRUNCATED-CONE
Flask
Spinning is the same for all shapes:, while the process differs precisely at the moment of seasoning
The importance of seasoning
There cheese maturing It is a process during which the food is placed "on hold", at the end of all the other production phases, in an environment with particular climatic conditions. During this time, which can vary greatly depending on the cheese in question, all the characteristics and peculiarities are enhanced.
In this specific case, before the Provolone Valpadana is matured, it is also tied, an ancient tradition still carried out today by master cheesemakers.
Sweet or spicy?
The cheeses then spend time in the maturing warehouses for a period ranging from a few days to several months.
The sweet Provolone Valpadana has a minimum maturing time of 10 days, while the spicy one can last even over 12 months. In this case we will have the Provolone Valpadana DOP Spicy aged.
In both cases, however, it is only this waiting that allows the bacteria to work and recreate the ideal conditions to best appreciate this Italian excellence.
What happens next?
Once the maturing process is complete, the Provolone Valpadana is ready to receive its guarantee mark (the cockade), issued by the Consortium and governed by the European regulation, and enter the sales network, to reach the tables of Italians and all over the world and make every meal special.
