Provolone

Provolone grew out of the stretched-curd cheeses of the south, the same broad method as mozzarella and the smaller provola. Instead of being eaten within days, the curd was salted, shaped, tied, and hung to age. The name sits next to prova, a trial or a small piece, and next to provola. The useful fact is the aging, not the last detail of the word.

Dairies in other parts of Italy took up the style. Provolone Valpadana is a protected cheese from the north, with its own zone and rules. Many provolones sold abroad are simply the style: a cow's-milk stretched cheese, aged a little or a lot, sometimes smoked. Italian-American delis made the smoked, sandwich-sliced version especially famous. That deli cheese is part of the story of the style. It is not the only legitimate provolone.

The curd is heated and stretched, as for mozzarella, then shaped into logs, pears, or long cylinders and bound with cords or put into forms. It is salted in brine and aged. Dolce stays younger and milder. Piccante is aged longer. A different rennet, traditionally from a lamb or a kid, helps give piccante its sharper, more pungent smell.

Smoke is optional. Some cheeses are hung in a smoked room until the flavor is part of the paste, not a powder on the rind. Wax or a thin rind protects the shape during aging. A very young dolce can seem close to a firm mozzarella. A long-aged piccante becomes hard enough to grate. The label's dolce, piccante, or affumicato (smoked) tells you which food you bought.

Dolce tastes of milk, salt, and a mild sweetness, with the springy chew of a stretched curd. Piccante tastes stronger, saltier, and more savory, sometimes with a faint bite that people either want or avoid. Smoked provolone adds a clean smoke that should not taste like a burnt chip.

The paste should be even, not full of cracks and sour liquid. A little firmness at the edge of an aged cheese is normal. A rancid or bitterly smoky piece is a fault. If a smoked cheese numbs every other flavor on the plate, use less, or buy an unsmoked dolce next time. The style is not required to be smoky.

Slice dolce for sandwiches, antipasto, and a board of mild cheeses. Melt either style on cooked meat, eggplant, or a sandwich that goes under a grill. Piccante can be grated over a stronger pasta sauce in place of some of the Romano. Smoked provolone is a classic deli slice with roasted peppers and cured meat.

Do not expect even a young provolone to taste like a wet mozzarella ball in a caprese. It is drier and saltier. Do not age a dolce in the refrigerator and hope it becomes piccante. It will dry out. Mozzarella is the substitute for a fresh, milky stretch. An aged provolone is the substitute when a recipe wants stretch plus a sharper, sliceable cheese.

The style is Italian, with southern roots and a protected northern cousin. The United States eats a large share of the exported and locally made provolone, mostly as a sandwich and pizza-shop cheese. Other countries that make pizza and Italian-American food sell it too.

Read past the single word. Dolce, piccante, smoked, and Valpadana are four different purchases. A mild deli slice will disappoint a recipe that wanted a pungent aged cheese, and a pungent piccante will take over a child's sandwich. The name is a family. The modifier is the cheese.