Provatura vs Provola
Provatura
Facts
- Texture
- Fresh
- Type
- Stretched curd
- Rind
- No rind
- Country
- Italy
- Place
- Lazio
Provatura is a fresh stretched-curd cheese from Lazio, in central Italy. The piece is small, round or egg shaped, and shops sell it while the paste is still moist. It belongs with mozzarella and provola, but it is its own cheese, not a new name for either one. The paste is white, soft, and mild, with a thin skin rather than a dry rind. Roman cooks use it fresh, melted on bread, or fried until the outside colors.
Provola
Facts
- Milk
- Cow
- Texture
- Semi-hard
- Type
- Stretched curd
- Rind
- Natural rind
- Country
- Italy
Provola is a semi-hard Italian cheese made from cow's milk in the stretched-curd tradition. Makers heat the curd and pull it until the paste is smooth, elastic, and able to hold a compact shape. A typical piece is smaller than a provolone, often pear-shaped or rounded, with a thin natural surface. Plain provola tastes mild and milky. Smoked provola, sold as provola affumicata, picks up a light brown color and a gentle wood-smoke aroma.