Stracchino di Gorgonzola
Gorgonzola, known also as Stracchino di Gorgonzola, is the principal
blue-green veined cheese of Italy. It is said to have been made in the
Po Valley since 879 A.D. It is named for the village of Gorgonzola, near
Milan, but very little is made there now. It is made chiefly in Lombardy,
where its manufacture is an im****tant industry, and in Piedmont. It
formerly was made during September and October, because winter con-
ditions are favorable for curing; however, curing caves have been built
in cliffs in the Alps, especially near Lecco, and it is now made
throughout
the year. It is made also in numerous other countries; in the United
States it is made mostly in Wisconsin and Michigan.
The interior of the cheese is mottled with blue-green veins like those
in Roquefort. In Italy the mold is called Penicillium glau*** rather than
P. rogqueforti - the name used in the United States - but it is the same
mold, at least in some instances. The surface of the cheese formerly was
protected by covering it with a reddish coat resembling clay, which is
prepared from barite or brick dust, lard or tallow, and coloring matter.
Now, however, tinfoil and stout containers are used. The cheeses, which
are cylindrical and flat, are from 8 1/2 to 11 inches in diameter and from
6 1/2 to 8 inches thick, and weigh between 14 and 17 pounds.
Evening milk is warmed to 86 F., or sometime 90 F, and enough rennet
added to coagulate it in 15 or 20 minutes. The curd is cut slowly, allowed
to
settle, collected in a cloth, and hung up to drain overnight in a room in
which the temperature is between 60 and 68 F. Curd is prepared similarly
from morning milk and is drained but not cooled. Expandable wooden
hoops, 8 to 12 inches in diameter and 10 1/2 to 12 inches deep, are lined
with
cloth and placed on rye straw or drain mats on a drain table. The two lots
of curd are cut into rather large slices or ****tions, and mold powder is
sprinkled in as the ****tions are placed alternately in the hoops. The warm
(morning) curd is placed mainly in the bottom and at the periphery and
piled up on top, with the cool (evening) curd between. This distribution
of the curd is considered a critical part of the making process. It aids
in
developing mechanical openings in the interior of the cheese and in
binding
the surface and making it smooth. The piled-up curd is covered with the
edges of the cloth lining, and the cheese is turned. It is repressed and
turned every 2 hours at first and less frequently thereafter for a day.
Then
the cloth is removed and the cheese is replaced in the hoops, left on the
straw
or drain mat, and turned twice daily for several days. It is salted with
dry
salt, heavily at first and lightly later, a total of 8 to 12 times in from
1
to 3
weeks. The temperature of the room is held at 50 F. or a little higher.
The cheese is dried and initial curing takes place in a room in which
the
temperature is between 52 and 60 F., and the relative humidity is 75
to 80 percent. During this period - 20 to 30 days - the cheese is turned
and rubbed by hand every other day and kept clean. It is scraped with a
knife occasionally.
The cheese is then moved to a room in which the temperature is from
40 to 43 F., and the relative humidity is even higher than in the other
curing rooms. The entire curing period is at least 90 days, frequently is
6 months, and may be a year.
The yield is 13 to 15 pounds of fresh cheese, or 10 to 12 pounds of
cured
cheese, per 100 pounds of milk.
Analysis: Moisture, not more than 42 percent (usually 35 to 38 percent):
fat, 31 to 33 percent (not less than 50 percent of the solids); protein,
24
to
26 percent; and salt, 3 to 4 percent.
USDA Agr. Handbook No. 54, Cheese Varieties and Descriptions
George P. Sanders, 1953
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