Provolone Cheese 101
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If you say Provolone cheese is the middle child of the Italian cheeses, then it won’t be wrong as it is neither as mild as mozzarella nor as punchy as Parmigiano-Reggiano. This aged cow’s milk cheese hails from southern Italy.
It was first made in Italy, but now it is made in America and staple of most American and Italian cooking.
It comes in fanciful shapes that include sausage, pigs, and fruits. This pulled curd cheese can be used in Panini, pasta salad, hoagies, quesadillas, baked pasta dishes, and casseroles.
You will find plenty of provolone cheese substitutes, but being a foodie and craving to taste everything, just read all the basic things you need to know about provolone.
What is Provolone?
Provolone is an Italian cheese whose origin back from Casilli near Vesuvius. Nowadays, the most prominent regions where provolone is produced are North-western Italy and the city of Cremona.
It is produced in various shapes like sausage and cone shape. You can also find it in stores in smoked and simple flavour.
There are many variants, and some have PDA (Protected Designation of Origin), which means no other country except Italy can produce that. Provolone Valpadana is one of these.
How it’s made?
It can be made with buffalo milk or cow’s milk. Even you can make it with the mixture of the two. The contemporary simple provolone is extracted straight out of curd of full-fat cow’s milk. But simply, this is not the only variety.
The curd is kneaded and stretched after the whey and curd have been separated.
It is cool down and bathed in the slightly salty brine. The cheese is tied up and securely hung in the ageing cell. Its taste ranges from sweet to sharp.
The provolone piccante is semi-hard with a piquant taste, while the provolone dolce has a sweet and mild taste.The earlier is derived from goat lipase, while the latter comes from calf lipase.
Why don’t we have Provolone in the UK?
It is manufactured in the Val Padana region of Italy. The European Union grants it a DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) designation to ensure that this product is produced and packaged locally under strict supervision using specific methods.
You may find provolone cheese UK at Amazon UK.
However, many other provolone substitutes might help you get the same texture and richness as the original one.
6 Provolone Cheese Substitutes UK
Let’s discuss the provolone cheese substitutes in the UK.
Fontana Cheese
Fontana cheese being close to the making of provolone can be a delicious cheese when used as a substitute. Just like contemporary provolone, it is made of cow milk and has a sharp to milder taste. It is an Italian cheese from a different region, i.e., Aosta Valley.
Fontana also has a nutty and tangy flavour that makes your savoury dish more thick and rich. It is semi-hard and can be used for both grating and melting purposes. But you can also use mozzarella as an alternate.
Low-Moisture Mozzarella Cheese
Unlike Fontana and provolone, it is made of buffalo milk curd and has a very thick and sticky texture when melted. If you cannot buy provolone cheese UK from Aldi, you can use this well-known cheese as an alternative.
Mozzarella does not have a sharp flavour, but low-moisturise mozzarella is semi-hard like provolone. It can also be used for grating and slicing purposes.
Apart from the Italian range, next is an American version of French cheese that serves as the best provolone substitute.
Munster Cheese
Munster is a French cheese, and its American version is very close to provolone. Its original version is soft, but the American one is semi-soft, making it close to hard and can be used for slicing and grating.
The good thing is its low-fat and can be used with sticky and thick mozzarella. Blending it with mozzarella gives it a hard to the mild texture of provolone UK. Munster cheese is also available in several varieties.
Parmesan Cheese
Parmesan is a good cheese for gratin and garnishing a dish. Unlike provolone, it is usually not used as the main ingredient. However, when blended with other cheese, the hard texture and nutty flavour of parmesan add richness to the dish.
Parmesan is also a bit salty but not as sharp as provolone. You can use its pecorino version if you want your dish to be more sweet and mild.
Edam Cheese
Unlike all the cheese explained above, Edam is a good substitute for provolone cheese UK. It is a semi-soft cheese that comes packed in a red wax coating.
It is usually not used in dishes and, most of the time served separately after the meal. But when blended with other cheese, it can be used as an excellent alternate to provolone.
Gruyere Cheese
It is Swiss cheese, which is hard and has a vibrant texture. It is used in several French dishes.
It is saltier than parmesan, but its texture can be made milder when blended with less salty cheese. Due to its sharp flavour, it is deemed a good provolone substitute.
FAQ's on Provolone Cheese
What is the English equivalent of provolone cheese?
Provolone comes in two types i.e. dolce and picante. Dolce is sweet in taste, while Piccante has a sharp taste. Picante provolone tastes similar to mature cheddar, which is commonly used in the UK. Moreover, Fontina Cheese is also a good substitute for Provolone cheese.
Is provolone a healthy cheese?
The amount of cholesterol is relatively high than other types of cheese, i.e. 20mg per ounce. That is why it is deemed a better option for people with cholesterol issues. However, it is high in saturated fat and can cause obesity issues if used in excess.
It is also rated high in sodium, where you need to look after its intake. At the same time, this cheese is good for bones as it contains 75% calcium content.
If you are going to the gym, this could also be an excellent alternate to your cheese craving as it has 52% protein, which is one of the highest in cheeses around the world.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, provolone UK is very rarely available, so you may need to find a good provolone cheese substitute. There are a few like mozzarellas, parmesan, and Munster that are readily available in the UK.
Aldi farms are the only farms that produce provolone cheese UK, and you can purchase from the store and online. If you still want to find the authentic flavour, go to Italy, and get your bait!
Andy
Ever since I started cooking I’ve been fascinated by how different people’s techniques are and how they best utilise the ingredients around them. Even the person living next door will have their own unique way of frying an egg or cooking a salmon fillet.
This fascination led me on a journey across the globe to discover the countless practices and traditions the world of cooking has to offer. I thought you’d enjoy and find value in sharing that journey with me so I created Cooked Best!