Pizza quattro formaggi (four cheese pizza) is a variety of pizza in

Italian cuisine Italian cuisine (, ) is a Mediterranean cuisine David 1988, Introduction, pp.101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes and cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and later spread around the world together with wave ...

that is topped with a combination of four kinds of cheese, usually melted together, with (''rossa'', red) or without (''bianca'', white)

tomato sauce Tomato sauce (also known as ''salsa roja'' in Spanish or ''salsa di pomodoro'' in Italian) can refer to many different sauces made primarily from tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish, rather than as a condiment. Tomato sauces are c ...

. It is popular worldwide, including in Italy, and is one of the iconic items from

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta. Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then t ...

s' menus.

History

Traditionally, the cheeses include

Mozzarella Mozzarella (, ; nap, muzzarella ) is a southern Italian cheese traditionally made from Italian buffalo's milk by the pasta filata method. Fresh mozzarella is generally white but when seasoned it turns to a light yellow depending on the anim ...

, as the fundamental component, which maintains humidity during cooking, partially protecting the other cheeses from the strong heat of the oven.

Gorgonzola Gorgonzola (; ) is a veined blue cheese, originally from Italy, made from unskimmed cow's milk. It can be buttery or firm, crumbly and quite salty, with a "bite" from its blue veining. History Historically, gorgonzola has been produced for ...

is almost systematically present and the completing duo consists of other local cheeses, depending on the region, with Fontina and

Parmigiano-Reggiano Parmesan ( it, Parmigiano Reggiano; ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cows’ milk and aged at least 12 months. It is named after two of the areas which produce it, the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia (''Parmigiano'' i ...

as the typical complements, but other variants include

Pecorino Pecorino cheeses are hard Italian cheeses made from sheep's milk. The name "" derives from ''pecora'' which means sheep in Italian. Overview Of the six main varieties of pecorino, all of which have Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) stat ...

Ricotta Ricotta ( in Italian) is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after th ...

Stracchino Stracchino (), also known as ''crescenza'' (), is a type of Italian cow's-milk cheese, typical of Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto, and Liguria. It is eaten very young, has no rind and a very soft, creamy texture and normally a mild and delicate flavou ...

Robiola Robiola is an Italian soft- ripened cheese of the Stracchino family. It is from the Langhe region and made with varying proportions of cow's, goat's, and sheep's milk. One theory is that the cheese gets its name from the town of Robbio in t ...

Taleggio Taleggio may refer to: *Taleggio, Lombardy Taleggio ( Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northwest of Bergamo. As of 31 Decembe ...

, smoked Provola or

Caciocavallo Caciocavallo is a type of stretched-curd cheese made out of sheep's or cow's milk. It is produced throughout Southern Italy, particularly in the Apennine Mountains and in the Gargano peninsula. Shaped like a teardrop, it is similar in taste to ...

. Beside Mozzarella,

mass-produced Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and ba ...

pizzas often use

Parmesan Parmesan ( it, Parmigiano Reggiano; ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cows’ milk and aged at least 12 months. It is named after two of the areas which produce it, the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia (''Parmigiano'' ...

, Romano,

Asiago Asiago (; Venetian: ''Axiago'', Cimbrian: ''Slege'', German: ''Schlägen'' ) is a minor township (population roughly 6,500) in the surrounding plateau region (the ''Altopiano di Asiago'' or '' Altopiano dei Sette Comuni'', Asiago plateau) in th ...

, and other Italian-style cheeses, though some use non-Italian cheeses such as Edam,

Emmental The Emmental ( en, Emme Valley) is a valley in west-central Switzerland, forming part of the canton of Bern. It is a hilly landscape comprising the basins of the rivers Emme (river), Emme and Ilfis (river), Ilfis. The region is mostly devoted to ...

and Blue cheese. The choice of cheeses is not random, they should be full-fat or semi-fat and vary in flavour. Besides Mozzarella, the ''quattro formaggi'' usually combines a blue or mature cheese, a soft cheese (such as Emmental or Gruyère) or a creamy cheese (such as

), and a hard cheese (parmesan or pecorino, grated). Unlike other pizzas, like the Napolitan or the Margherita, which have an old, rich, and documented history, the ''Quattro Formaggi'', despite its popularity and preponderance, has a less clear origin, certainly due to its composition being so obvious. It is believed to originate from the

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region at the beginning of the 18th century. Its less obvious and more recent versions, like the ''Quattro Latti'' pizza, can be on the opposite tracked in the history of gastronomy.

References

quattro formaggi Cheese dishes

History

See also

References