Cheese please!

I am a massive fan of cheese. Not all cheese (I stay far away from brie), but normally I can't get enough of the stuff. I love going to the cheese counter here and picking up some fresh mozzarella or buying a chunk of Parmesan.

 There's one Italian cheese that I am seriously falling in the love with though, and that's Provola.

This semi-hard cheese can be found all over Italy, but was originally manufactured in the southern regions. It comes in all different shapes and sizes, but around these parts I usually see it in big ball shapes. If you pick up one of the bigger ones, the name given to it is usually Provolone, wheras the smaller ones are simply Provola.

Made from full-fat cow's milk, it's definitely not the healthiest option, but it's really rather tasty. You can get it smoked (affumicata) or plain, but I find the smoked one is a bit more flavoursome. In my opinion, the best way to eat almost any cheese here, is on its own. Not in a sandwich, not on top of pasta...but in a nice little chunk on its own. Yep, even with Parmasan; don't be so hasty in grating it directly onto your pasta dish. Cut of a piece first and sample the amazing flavour.

Here's some smoked Provola that I picked up yesterday:

Are you a cheese fiend like me? What's your favourite?