Crescenza

/KREH-shehn-tsah/
[Italian]

A traditional farmhouse fresh cheese made from cow’s milk in Lombardy. It is a very creamy, soft, mild cheese often used instead of butter, also known as Crescenza Stracchino, and contains about 55% milk fat and is a little creamier than straight Stracchino which has 50%. The paste is uncooked. Stracchino is derived from an old word for tired (stanca). Cows migrated with the seasons and by the time they reached the Lombardy plains they were worn out. The milk was effected by their weariness. Affinage is around 15 days and it is then shaped into slabs. It is like a slightly tart cream cheese.

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