Fontina
Tasting Fontina
Fontina PDO is one of the jewels in the crown of mountain cheeses.
With its soft, elastic, melt-in-the-mouth texture, intense aroma and characteristic but not excessive eye formation, it is a cheese to be enjoyed on all occasions.
Features
Fontina PDO has specific characteristics that make it clearly recognisable, despite the many attempts at imitation. It has a thin, compact, orange-brown rind and a flattened cylindrical shape. The wheel has an average weight of around 9 kg.
Fontina PDO, which has a high energy value is a particularly tasty, digestible cheese and lends itself to being eaten directly at the table, as wheel as being used in the kitchen to prepare gourmet dishes, especially because of the pleasantness of its flavour. Thanks to its ability to melt, it is also suitable for making sandwiches and toasts.
Variants
It can be sold whole, cut or packaged: in the latter case, the operation must be carried out only in the production area and is controlled and certified, as provided for in the specification. Long-aged and mountain pasture versions are also available on the market.
Matches and recipes
Fontina PDO accompanies a wide variety of dishes, ranging from starters to first and main courses; it goes well with pasta, meat and vegetables. But one dish, above all, encloses the essence of this characteristic cheese: the Aosta Valley style fondue.
Exquisite and simple, the fondue is prepared using four basic ingredients: Fontina PDO, milk, butter and fresh eggs: all products of the Aosta Valley mountain tradition.
Fondue is tasty, but it is best served in traditional voul-au-vents. It is also the perfect pairing with many tasty recipes: a sauce for ravioli alla boscaiola, together with mushrooms, or an accompaniment to the classic cotoletta valdostana. It can be served with asparagus or as a contrast between sweet and bitter in the filling of radicchio wraps.
Some recipes
