By Isla Quinn
Cut it and the paste is pale straw. Then the veins: greenish-blue, grey-blue, running through like ink in water. That is the look the specification describes. It is also the look of many cheeses that are not Gorgonzola. The name on the label is the part with rules.
What the name protects
Qualigeo, the European database of protected foods kept by the Qualivita foundation, lists Gorgonzola as a PDO, known in Italy as DOP. It says the cheese is made from whole pasteurised cow’s milk and is cylindrical with flat faces. It names the paste as white to straw-yellow, marbled with greenish-blue or grey-light blue mould, and the rind as grey or pinkish and inedible. The consortium that promotes the cheese, a producers’ body, agrees on the look and says the milk comes from stables in the area of origin and that no additives or preservatives are used. We treat the consortium page as the producers’ own account.
Where it may be made
Qualigeo gives two regions. In Lombardy: Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Lecco, Lodi, Milan, Pavia, Varese and Monza. In Piedmont: Biella, Cuneo, Vercelli, Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and 31 municipalities in the province of Alessandria. Wikipedia lists 13 provinces and says some communes around Casale Monferrato in Alessandria are included. A cheese-education blog, the Academy of Cheese, names only six provinces, Novara, Vercelli, Milan, Como, Pavia and Biella. The blog is the shortest list and the least detailed.
Dolce and piccante
The consortium puts the two types side by side. Dolce is creamy and soft with a mild flavour. Piccante has a stronger flavour, and its paste is more herbaceous, firm and crumbly. Ageing is where the numbers matter. The consortium says dolce ages for a minimum of 50 days and a maximum of 150, and piccante for a minimum of 80 and a maximum of 270. Qualigeo gives the same minimums and maximums and adds a third type, Piccola Piccante, at 60 to 200 days. It also says piccante is made in small and medium wheels and dolce in large ones.
The Academy of Cheese blog differs. It gives dolce 50 to 80 days and piccante, which it also calls Naturale, 80 to 150 days. Wikipedia says only that the cheese is aged for three to four months and gets firmer as it ripens. We show all three side by side and do not pick one. Our reading: the blog and Wikipedia are summarising, and the consortium and Qualigeo are quoting the specification, so the first two ranges are safer to trust.
Moulds, rods and cellars
How the veins form is told in three ways. The consortium says milk enzymes and “selected moulds” make them. Wikipedia names Penicillium glaucum and says metal rods are pushed in and out during ageing to open air channels. The Academy of Cheese blog names Penicillium roqueforti and says stainless steel needles let in oxygen after salting. The mould species is a real disagreement, and the label will not settle it.
Weight and size
Qualigeo gives no wheel weight. The blog says wheels are large and weigh 6 to 12 kilograms. We found no weight in the specification itself, so we pass the figure on as the blog’s alone.
How to tell a real wheel
The consortium says wheels are branded on both flat sides and that the retail foil carries a consortium mark. Qualigeo says the name may be used only for cheese from the defined zone. Wikipedia adds that outside the EU and countries that recognise protected names, “Gorgonzola” may be used for similar blue cheeses, with Wisconsin and Vermont as examples. So a grocer’s wedge in a place with no such rule is a different question from a wedge in an EU shop.
Old, older, oldest
Qualigeo says origins are generally placed in the 10th to 12th centuries near the town of Gorgonzola, in the province of Milan, and that until the end of the 20th century the cheese was usually called a stracchino. Wikipedia says it is believed to date to the 9th century, gives one source with the range 879 to 1007, says the blue marbling arrived in the 11th century and says it was called Stracchino Verde until the early 20th century. It also notes that Pasturo, in the Valsassina, disputes the claim, because its caves hold a steady 6 to 12 degrees Celsius. A tale of curds left open overnight is told by Wikipedia and the Academy of Cheese blog, and the blog calls it a legend.
Dates in order
- 9th to 12th centuries: origin, according to Wikipedia and Qualigeo, which disagree.
- 1955: Italian DOC status, according to Wikipedia.
- 1996: EU registration, 20 June according to Qualigeo and 21 June according to Wikipedia.
- 2017: the regulation Qualigeo links to, Regulation (EU) 2017/1595.
At the table
The blog says dolce is often sold in a pot and eaten with a spoon or spread on bread, while piccante is crumbled over salads or served with grilled or roasted meat. It names rustic bread, fresh figs and honey among accompaniments, and it also names wine and spirits, which we leave out. None of our sources ties Gorgonzola to a holiday. Our reading: the cheeseboard season is why it belongs in a late-year guide, and that is our inference.
Side by side
The sources disagree on the EU registration day, the number of provinces, the mould species, the ageing range for each type and the cheese’s age. Nobody here is wrong in any way we can prove. The specification and the consortium are the sources to prefer for the rules.
What kind of sources these are
The producers’ consortium site; Qualigeo, a database of protected foods; Wikipedia in English; and an educational blog from a cheese school, dated December 2020. We read no dairy or ministry page and no EU register entry, so the date conflict stays open.
What we left out
We left out nutrition figures, wine and spirit pairings, shelf life, which no source gave, and any claim about quantities made. We found no cutting instructions in any source, so we give none.
Quick answers
What is the difference between Gorgonzola dolce and piccante? According to the producers’ consortium, dolce is creamy, soft and mild, while piccante is stronger, firmer and more crumbly.
How long is Gorgonzola aged? According to the consortium, dolce is aged a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 150 days, and piccante a minimum of 80 and a maximum of 270.
Can you eat the rind? According to Qualigeo, the rind is grey or pinkish and inedible.
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Roam first. Shop later.