Raviggioli
White, smooth and creamy, Raviggiolo is a soft cream cheese with no outer layer.
Warmed milk is first coagulated with rennet, and then it is drained in little perforated containers, or reed baskets.
Originally, raviggiolo was produced in the fall when the cattle herds returned from the alpine pastures where they spent the summer, but nowadays it is produced throughout Italy. Like many of its fresh cheese cousins, such as crecenza and stracchino, Raviggiolo is a smart and practical way of dealing with superfluous fresh milk, which might otherwise be wasted.
But this product owes its uniqueness to the tradition of its processing technique and to the use of local ingredients. In past centuries it was considered a delicacy, and was never missing on sumptuously-laid tables and banquets. The proverb “chi non è marzolino sarà raviggiolo” (You’re ether marzolino or raviggiolo) referring to fate, testifies to the cheese’s renown.
Usually sold in small round or rectangular forms, this cheese is creamy, delicately flavorful and very slightly acidulous. Like all fresh cheeses, raviggiolo should be eaten within a day or so of purchase.
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