The last time I enjoyed Montasio cheese was over 10 years ago, when I was a chef at a very authentic Italian restaurant. Each month we researched a special menu based on one of Italy’s many diverse regions.
When we researched Friuli Venezia-Giulia, the oft-overlooked region in the northeast corner of Italy, abutting Slovenia and Austria, we found Montasio cheese.
It is an Alpine cheese of raw cows’ milk, sold fresh, slightly aged, aged or “stravecchio” or extra-old. It is used to make the most famous dish of the region, frico, which can be similar to melted cheese crisps or thick cheesy pancakes. So we ordered some Montasio, and it was fabulous. The frico were delicious, too.
According to Steven Jenkins in his “Cheese Primer,” Montasio has been made on Montasio mountain since the 13th century and was awarded a protected denomination of origin in 1986.
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