To make your Friuli recipes taste as authentic as possible, try to source aMontasio DOP.
It is a compact cheese which is produced on the high Alpine plain of the same name at some 1500 meters in altitude.
Earliest recorded mentions of the cheese date back 400 years.
It is matured for a period of 2 to 5 months for the soft and delicate variety, and for a year for the full flavor, fresher and harder version.
Both contain almost imperceptible holes. The province of Pordenone also produces some other interesting varieties.
First up is 'La Formella del Friuli' made from full cream milk which has been left to sour slightly. The cheese is soft and has a surprisingly sweet taste.
Next is 'Frico Balacia'. This cheese is typical of the Val Cellina and is especially suitable for cooking in a frying pan.
Finally, we recommend the creamy cheese from Val Tramontina called 'Cit'. This product was once the the poor man's choice as it was made from defective pieces of other cheeses.
Today, it is produced irregularly in small quantities and is something of a find.
Here is a recipe forFrico .
Montasio Cheese Territory
Montasio DOP cheese is produced in the regions of Friuli and Veneto.
It is possible to buy this fine regional Italian cheese directly from the producers, but first you might need a map.
Interestingly, ours is published in just two languages, Italian and German, which suggests many northern Europeans hop in their cars to cross the border and purchase for themselves.
Concentrate your search in and around the provinces of Udine and Pordenone in Friuli.
We are not too sure which is the most important centre of Montasio production but the distinctive logo of the Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Montasio sits above the Latteria Sociale di Coderno in Coderno di Sedegliano.
This is the epicentre of production. Other hot cheese points include Vittorio Veneto, Sacile, Spilimbergo, Portogruaro, Cividale del Friuli and Tricesimo.
The extreme edges of the Montasio production zone in a clockwise direction are Rovolon south of Padova, Isola Vicentina, Sedico near Belluno, Tolmezzo, Malborghetto, and Trieste.
