Bel Paese () is a semi-soft Italian

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During productio ...

. It was invented in 1906 by Egidio Galbani who wanted to produce a mild and delicate cheese to sell mainly in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The name Bel Paese comes from the title of a book written by

Antonio Stoppani Antonio Stoppani towards the end of his life Antonio Stoppani (24 August 18241 January 1891) was an Italian Catholic priest, patriot, geologist and palaeontologist. He studied the geology of the Italian region and wrote a popular treatise, ''Il B ...

(though the reference is much older, being used by

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...

and

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...

). It is Italian for "beautiful country", and is used as a phrase for Italy itself. Originally produced in

Melzo Melzo ( lmo, Melz ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about east of Milan. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 18,400 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: ...

, a small town near

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

in the Lombardy region, it is now made in both Italy and the United States. Bel Paese is a cow's milk cheese. It matures for six to eight weeks, and has a creamy and light milky aroma. The color is a pale, creamy yellow. It is made in small discs, and is very similar to the French Saint-Paulin cheese and to German '' Butterkäse''. It has a mild, buttery flavor for which it has been popularly eaten with fruity

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

s, such as dry red or white. It is favored by many as a snack or dessert cheese and melts easily for use on pizzas or in casseroles. It is often used as a substitute for

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 ...

cheese. Genuine Bel Paese cheese can be determined by the wrapping. It has an image of the Italian geologist and paleontologist

, whose geological treatise ''Il bel paese'' gave its name to Galbani's cheese; but while on the wrapping of the cheese made in Italy Stoppani's image comes with a map of Italy, cheese made in the United States has a map of America.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bel Paese (Cheese) Cow's-milk cheeses Products introduced in 1906 Lombard cheeses