Provolone cheese, according to Steven Jenkins in his Cheese Primer, is essentially a very large piece of fresh cow's milk mozzarella, salted, tied into a firm log shape with string, hung and aged for anywhere from a few months to a year or more.
It is, he says, the most popular cheese in Southern Italy and in most Italian-American households.
While Jenkins, who is known and loved for his candid appraisal of cheeses, maintains that almost no provolone we have in the United States is as bitey and full-flavored as those in Italy, he does make an exception for the Auricchio brand, which he says is "sharp and filled with character. It crumbles on the palate and almost simultaneously melts into an onrush of mouthwatering flavor." He names Auricchio Sharp provolone, made in Wisconsin, as an American Treasure.
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