Cheese Database

Grana Padano vs Silter

Grana Padano, field guide plate
Grana Padano, photographed

Grana Padano

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Hard
Type
Pressed
Rind
Natural rind
Country
Italy
Place
Northern Italy
Status
PDO

Grana Padano is a hard cow's-milk grating cheese from a wide area of northern Italy. It belongs to the same family as Parmigiano-Reggiano, and it is a protected cheese.

Silter

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Hard
Type
Pressed
Rind
Natural rind
Country
Italy
Place
Lombardy

Silter is a hard cow's milk cheese from the Alpine valleys of Lombardy in northern Italy. Makers start with raw milk and skim off part of the cream, so the paste is firm rather than rich. The wheels carry a hard rind that turns from straw yellow toward brown. The name refers to the local room where cheese is left to mature. It is a mountain cheese meant to keep, not a fresh curd.