the.com/provolone
The cheese that hangs from ceilings like a delicious, tangy hostage situation.
means A semi-hard Italian cheese, usually pale yellow and mild to sharp depending on age, often shaped into large molds and hung to cure.
from From the Italian 'provola,' a kind of cheese, with the augmentative suffix '-one' meaning 'big' — so literally 'big provola.' 'Provola' itself is thought to derive from a southern Italian dialect word, possibly related to 'prova' (a test or trial), perhaps referring to a sampling or testing of the cheese, though the exact path is uncertain. It's a cousin of mozzarella in the 'pasta filata' family, where the curd is stretched and kneaded like dough — hence those dramatic ceiling-hung shapes.
- name origin
- From Neapolitan 'prova,' meaning a globe-shaped test.
- rope-tied
- Aged hanging by cords for weeks or years.
- two flavors
- Dolce is mild; piccante bites back hard.
- giant forms
- Some wheels weigh over 200 pounds each.
- southern roots
- Born in southern Italy, perfected in the north.
provolone valpadana — protected designation of origin cheese from lombardy and emilia-romagna, italy, produced since the 18th century
provolone del monaco — pdo cheese from the campania region near naples, hung in caves to age for up to 12 months