Gorgonzola

"not too mild but not too assertive either, and with a characteristic twang " Jamie Forrest

The picture at left is of the small town of Gorgonzola north-west of Milan in Lombardy, Italy, from whence comes Gorgonzola cheese. It's said to have been created here back in the 11th century, but apparently there are other areas of Italy that claim it as their own. Be that as it may, it can now only be made in Northern Italy - in Lombardy and Piedmont. If you make a Gorgonzola style cheese elsewhere, as here in Australia, you cannot, of course call it Gorgonzola. And the Chinese have banned its import because, they say, the bacteria are bad. Mind you they make their own in China, so it's probably more of a business decision.

I tried to find which Australian cheeses are Gorgonzola style, but could only find two that were actually named - although there are more. The named ones were Gippsland Blue and Berry's Creek Oak Blue. I think these are generally considered to be the best Australian copies.

I'm writing about Gorgonzola because we bought some recently for a gathering of some kind, not liking it ourselves, and now we have a leftover chunk in the fridge. What to do with it? From yesterday's post you will know I don't like to throw anything out. Well I don't like blue cheese myself - it just tastes - well mouldy - to me. But I do remember using a very small amount of Gorgonzola in a vegetarian lasagne once, courtesy of Delia, and so I thought I would add a small piece to the vegetarian cannelloni I am going to cook for dinner tonight. Well they might not be totally vegetarian - I might add a bit of ham. Anyway do try Delia's recipe - it's good.

So what makes Gorgonzola Gorgonzola? I confess I'm not quite sure. Unskimmed cow's milk would distinguish it from Roquefort which is sheep's milk. A starter bacteria and the mould - penicillin glaucum are added - another difference from Roquefort which uses penicillin roqueforti. After the milk curdles the whey is removed and it is then shaped into rounds of 6-8kg and aged for around three months. Whilst it is maturing metal rods are inserted and removed creating channels for the mould to colonize.

You can just see where the rods went in in the piece at the front in the picture above. From what I have read it seems to be a bit milder than some blue cheeses, and creamier perhaps. But I really don't know because I really don't like blue cheese.

You will find lots of recipes for using Gorgonzola on the net, but Hugh-Fearnley Whittingstall seems a bit cautious about it:

"Blue cheese is a mixed blessing. When it's good, it's very, very good. But when it's bad, it's horrid. And when it's used in a reckless way in recipes, it's very very horrid indeed." Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

So maybe it's not just me. But it's one of those foodstuffs that I feel a bit defensive about not liking. I will put a bit in the cannelloni though. Aldi has Italian Gorgonzola at a reasonable price if you want to buy some, though I am sure you can buy 'better' versions at markets and specialist shops.