Gorgonzola Delivery or Pickup

One of the oldest blue-veined cheeses globally, Gorgonzola is mainly produced in northern Italy's Lombardy and Piedmont regions. Gorgonzola has a soft, crumbly texture and nutty aroma. The blue mold cheese looks similar to porcelain, and the decadent taste has been a favorite for centuries. Gorgonzola is made using unskimmed cow's milk. The cheese typically takes 3-4 months to attain its full ripeness.

A few varieties of Gorgonzola exist. Gorgonzola Dolce is also known as Sweet Gorgonzola. This variety is soft, sweet, and mild. Gorgonzola Piccante, the spicy variety, is also known as Gorgonzola Naturale, Gorgonzola Montagna, or Mountain Gorgonzola. The latter is sharp with a firm texture. The products vary in age, with Gorgonzola Dolce being the younger variety.

Depending on a specific cheese product's age, you can expect Gorgonzola to range in taste from mild to sharp. Young Gorgonzola is creamy and soft. The taste starts off buttery, then moves slowly to a slightly acidic finish. Mature Gorgonzola tastes stronger. These aged varieties are piquant and have a pungent bite at the finish.

Gorgonzola is made with fresh milk delivered each day to creameries. Rigorous monitoring of Gorgonzola cheese products ensures that the cheese keeps its full-bodied flavor once pasteurized. A mix of yeasts and rennet is added to pasteurized milk, which then coagulates the milk and triggers the classic Gorgonzola marbling effect. Then, the milk curdles to form a firm paste, and the curd is cut and separated so that the whey is released.

The soon-to-be Gorgonzola cheese is placed in molds and brined using sea salt. The molds undergo the aging process, including piercing the rind to promote marbling within the cheese body. Gorgonzola spends a minimum of 50 days maturing.

You can find wedges of Gorgonzola and crumbled Gorgonzola products. You can also purchase fondue made from Gorgonzola.

You'll want to keep Gorgonzola refrigerated at all times. An unopened package of this cheese can last for 2-4 weeks if you refrigerate it properly.

Once you open a Gorgonzola package, the cheese's shelf life is reduced to about a week or less. You'll usually need to eat your Gorgonzola within 3-5 days after opening it. Continue to store any opened Gorgonzola cheese in the refrigerator until you consume it.

Many people choose not to keep Gorgonzola in a refrigerator's cheese drawer; the distinctive smell may transfer to other cheeses. Keep in mind that Gorgonzola is a live food. In other words, the maturation process does not end. You'll want to buy small enough quantities so that you can consume this cheese within a few days. Overall, you can preserve spicy varieties of Gorgonzola longer than soft Gorgonzola.

Before you eat Gorgonzola, you'll want to remove it from the refrigerator and keep it at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Keeping Gorgonzola at room temperature for a short period of time enhances the cheese's characteristics and taste.