- Bel Paese cheese
Bel Paese [BELL pah-AY-zay] is a semi-soft Italian
cheese . It was invented in 1906 byEgidio Galbani who wanted to produce a mild and delicate cheese to sell mainly inItaly . The name Bel Paese comes from the title of a book written byAntonio Stoppani . It is Italian for "Beautiful Country".Originally produced in
Melzo , a small town nearMilan in the Lombardy region, it is now made in both Italy and theUnited States . Bel Paese is a cow's milk cheese. It matures for six to eight weeks, and has a creamy and light milky aroma. The color is a pale, creamy yellow. It is made in small discs, and is very similar to the French Saint-Paulin cheese and to German "Butterkäse".It has a mild, buttery flavor for which it has been popularly eaten with fruity
wine s, such as dry red or white. It is favored by many as a snack or dessert cheese and melts easily for use onpizza s or incasserole s. It is often used as a substitute formozzarella cheese.Genuine bel paese cheese can be determined by the wrapping. It has an image of the Italian geologist and paleontologist
Antonio Stoppani , whose geological treatise "Il bel paese" gave its name to the Galbani cheese; but while on the wrapping of the cheese made in Italy Stoppani's image comes with a map of Italy, cheese made in the United States has a map of the Americas.
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