Provolone, Provoletta, Provoloncino

This peculiar cheese originated in the Basilicata in the province of Potenza and from there it spread all over southern Italy and eventually to the north, where it now flourishes.

It is a compact full-fat cheese made of cows’ milk. After the rennet and relevant fermenting agents have been added, as with caciocavallo, the curds are spun in hot water and worked into a large pear-shaped or cylindrical cheese, weighing at least 5.9 kg (13 lb). They can, in fact, reach 1.4 m (4 ft) in height and a weight of anything between 60 and 100 kg (130 and 220 lb). After they have been shaped, they are placed in giant containers and immersed in brine before being hung and bound by special strings which give them their distinctive shape.