View source for Bel Paese (cheese)

{{Refimprove|date=August 2016}}
{{Short description|Semi-soft Italian cheese type}}
{{Infobox Cheese
| name          = Bel Paese
| image         = [[File:Cheese 29 bg 051906.jpg|220px]]
| othernames    = 
| country       = [[Italy]]
| region        = [[Lombardy]] 
| town          = [[Melzo]]
| source        = 
| pasteurised   = 
| texture       = semi-soft
| fat           = 
| protein       = 
| dimensions    = 
| weight        = 
| aging         = 
| certification = 
}}
'''Bel Paese''' ({{IPA|it|ˌbɛl paˈeːze, -eːse}}) or '''Italico''' is a [[Semi-soft cheese|semi-soft]] Italian [[cheese]]. It was invented in 1906 by Egidio Galbani who wanted to produce a mild and delicate cheese to sell mainly in [[Italy]]. The name Bel Paese comes from the title of a book written by [[Antonio Stoppani]] (though the reference is much older, being used by [[Dante]] and [[Petrarch]]). It is Italian for "beautiful country", and is [[Bel paese (phrase)|used as a phrase]] for Italy itself.<ref>{{cite book|page=77|title=The Oxford Companion to Food| author=Davidson, Alan|year=2014| publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

Originally produced in [[Melzo]], a small town near [[Milan]] 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 German ''[[Butterkäse]]''. It has a mild, buttery flavor, and it has been popularly eaten with fruity [[wine]]s, such as dry red or white. It is favored by many as a snack or dessert cheese and melts easily for use on [[pizza]]s or in [[casserole]]s. It is often used as a substitute for [[mozzarella]] cheese.<ref>{{cite book|author=Farrar, Robert R.|title=A soft cheese of the Bel Paese type. Circular No. 522|publisher=US Department of Agriculture. |year=1939|url=https://archive.org/stream/softcheeseofbelp522farr#page/n1/mode/2up}}</ref>

Genuine Bel Paese cheese can be determined by the wrapping. It has an image of the Italian geologist and paleontologist [[Antonio Stoppani]], 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==
{{reflist}}

{{Lombard cuisine}}
{{Italian cheeses}}

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


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