Bel Paese is a semi-soft Italian cheese with a buttery taste and texture, similar to French Saint Paulin, German Butterkäse, and Havarti. It is commonly used in appetizers and desserts and can be used in casseroles and pizzas. It is produced in Italy and the USA and is often served with wine.
Bel Paese is a semi-soft Italian cheese known for its soft texture and buttery taste. It’s a fairly modern cheese, created in the early 1900s by an Italian looking to make a new plain cheese for local sale. It is a cow’s milk cheese and although it originated in Melzo, a village in the Lombardy region of Italy, it is now produced in Italy and the United States (USA) and distributed throughout the world.
Similar in some ways to French Saint Paulin cheese, bel paese is also similar in texture and taste to German Butterkäse and havarti. All of these cheeses share a comparable buttery taste, and while soft enough to almost melt on the tongue, they’re firm enough to cut through for easy serving. The bel Paese’s flavor and texture have made it a favorite cheese to use in appetizers, often served with crackers or left to taste on its own. It is also a common dessert cheese, sometimes served with a few pieces of fruit to allow the warm, buttery flavor of the cheese to counteract the strong sweetness of the grape or melon.
Bel Paese is a relatively simple cheese to produce, requiring only about two months to mature properly. The name of the cheese comes from a book by the Italian geologist Antonio Stoppani entitled Il Bel Paese, which means “the beautiful country”. An image of Stoppani, along with a map of Italy, is typically used on packaging of the beautiful country produced in Italy. American manufacturers tend to use a map of the United States on the packaging and this allows customers to easily distinguish an Italian product from an American one.
Since bel paese is a semi-soft cheese, it melts fairly evenly and is ideal for use in casseroles and cream sauces. It can also be used in place of mozzarella in the preparation of pizzas. Typically sold in relatively small discs, bel paese is cream colored with a slight yellow tinge.
The Bel Paese has also become famous for being served during tastings or to accompany a glass of wine. The cheese flavor is often a great accompaniment to somewhat fruity wines such as dry reds or whites. Similar to how it’s served with dessert, this allows the flavor of the wine to stand out from the smooth, creamy texture and buttery flavor of the cheese.
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