Gorgonzola is a soft blue-veined cheese of Italian origin. Aficionados swear by this (once) local specialty, while those with less adventurous taste buds will claim that this cheese smells like unwashed socks that have been worn by its owner for weeks.
Incidentally, Gorgonzola as the birthplace of the eponymous cheese has also been under discussion for a long time. A number of nearby villages and even entire regions also claim the origin of the cheese. The town of Pasturo even believes it can prove it, but that place too cannot provide indisputable historical documents.
Although there is no official documentation about the birth of the cheese, its origins possibly date back to at least the 13th century. One version of the story says that at that time, shepherds from the north would bring their cows down from the mountains in September to graze on the nutritious, fresh grass of the plains around Milan. The first stop on their southern migration was the small settlement of Gorgonzola. To show their gratitude to the local landowners for the grazing rights, the shepherds offered them the milk from the herd. With this considerable amount of milk, the Gorgonzolesi began to make and sell cheese. This first cheese was called stracchino , derived from strach , a Lombard dialect word meaning "tired." It was a reference to the milk that came from the cows that were exhausted after their long migration south.
The Gorgonzola, however, was the result of an accident. The story goes that one sultry evening, a lovesick casaro ("cheesemaker") rushed out to meet his girlfriend. However, he had forgotten to finish his job. The next morning, fearing that he would lose his job if it were discovered that he had thrown away the previous day's batch of unfinished cheese curds, he secretly threw it in with the new milk supply.
This shameful behavior, however, set in motion a process that produced a greenish-blue veined curd with a spicy smell. Gorgonzola cheese was born.
II. Insalata con pere, noci e gorgonzola .
Admit it: in Italian it sounds even more delicious than the Dutch translation 'salad with pears, nuts and gorgonzola'. With walnuts it is a true classic, although in recent years 'influencers' have also been recommending other nuts. Don't listen to that nonsense, because it is sacrilege to use any other nuts than walnuts in this salad.
This salad has a distinctive combination of flavors and mouthfeel. It also looks stunning.
Ingredients:
- half a bag of rocket salad
- one ripe pear
- a handful of walnuts
- 100 grams of Gorgonzola
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- black pepper to taste
Preparation:
- Wash the rocket and drape it on a plate.
- Peel the pear and cut it into pieces. Divide the pieces over the salad.
- Crumble the walnuts, crumble the gorgonzola. Divide this over the salad and pears.
- Sprinkle some more black pepper over it. -
Finally, sprinkle the extra virgin olive oil generously over your insalata con pere, noci e gorgonzola .
That's it. Of course, you can dress this salad further with balsamic vinegar, grapes and pine nuts , but that is not really necessary.
