Fontina Cheese

Let me tell you about Fontina Cheese, and why it earns its place in your fridge.

Put a piece in the pan and watch it, don't walk away. Fontina Cheese softens at the edges, turns glossy, and pools smooth and creamy under your spoon. That's what tells you it's the right cheese for pasta sauces and gratins: it surrenders itself into the dish rather than sitting on top of it.

Choose it by look first. The paste should look moist, almost damp, never dry or cracked at the edges. Smell it — you want that nutty note, warm and mellow, not sharp or ammonia-like.

Some people say all melting cheeses behave the same, so you can swap Fontina Cheese for any semi-soft cheese in a recipe. No! Put another cheese in the same pan and watch it behave differently — some stay stiff longer, some turn stringy under the spoon, some break and weep fat before they ever go smooth. And even when the substitute melts fine, Fontina Cheese's gentle, nutty character is gone, replaced by whatever the other cheese brings. That mistake gives you a gratin that melts well but tastes of nothing you wanted.