My boss and I like to joke that Piave Vecchio is one of the most overlooked cheeses out there. I’m here to help you get to know this Italian wheel of deliciousness a little bit better!
Country of Origin: Italy!
Milk Type: Pasteurized Cow
Rennet Type: Traditional, animal rennet (sorry, vegetarian friends!)
One of the reasons that we’ve decided that people tend to overlook this delicious cheese lies on the ‘monger side: this baby is NOT easy to cut through-Piave has an INCREDIBLY dense paste. This means that it’s a little bit more difficult to cut through the wheel- but it’s totally worth every bit of effort!
Vecchio means ‘aged,’ or ‘old,’ and this particular incarnation is aged for 12 months. Made in Italy’s Veneto region in the North, this formaggio has deliciously nutty, slightly sweet flavors that come through, that are mixed in with hints of pineapple- sound familiar? I use those flavor descriptors a lot when talking about Parmigiano Reggiano! Like the King of Cheese, Piave is amaaaaaazing for grating over pastas or shaving over salads. The paste, though, is very different- for Parm, you notice how grainy it is (that’s it’s make style, ‘grana’ cheeses, coming through), but Piave has a much smoother, firm paste (it is a cooked curd cheese hence the variation in texture!). Both are studded with those delicious little cheese diamonds, tyrosine, though!
Like Parmigiano, Piave also has a PDO designation (since 2010), meaning that it must be produced under very specific regulations to bear the name of Piave, which they stamp all the way around the rind of the finished cheese (again, just like they do for Parmigiano!).
If you happen to see this cheese at your local cheese counter, grab a chunk! I recommend it shaved over an arugula // red onion // caper // pear salad for a dinner that you won’t soon forget! Drink wise... you can go a lot of different ways! Maybe you feel like an amber ale, or a Pinot Grigio? You won’t regret either one!
