Provolone

Provolone is an Italian semi-hard cheese made from cow's milk. It is an aged pasta filata ('stretched-curd') cheese originating in the Campania region, near Vesuvius, where it is still produced in pear, sausage, or cone shapes 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 in) long. Provolone-type cheeses are also produced in other countries. The most important provolone production region today[when?] is northwestern Italy and, in particular, the city of Cremona. Provolone, provola, and provoleta are versions of the same basic cheese. Some versions of provolone are smoked. The term provolone (meaning 'large provola') appeared around the end of the 19th century, when it started to be manufactured in the southern regions of Italy and assumed its current large size. The smaller sized variant is called provola ( Italian: [ˈprɔːvola]) and comes in plain and smoked (affumicata) varieties. Modern provolone is a full-fat cow's milk cheese with a smooth skin, produced mainly in the Po River Valley regions of Lombardy and Veneto. It is produced in different shapes: like a very large sausage which may be up to 30 cm (1 ft) in diameter and 90 cm (3 ft) long,[citation needed] in a truncated bottle shape, and in a large pear shape with the characteristic round knob for hanging. The typical weight is 5 kg (11 lb).[citation needed]

Source: Wikipedia