Fresh Asiago is the young, mild style of Asiago, a cow’s milk cheese from northern Italy.

• Milk: cow’s
• Region: the Veneto and Trentino areas of Italy (Asiago DOP)
• Style: fresh, semi-soft
• Aged: about 20 to 40 days

Fresh vs. aged Asiago

Asiago comes in two main styles. Pressato is the fresh one: it’s aged for only a few weeks, which keeps it soft and mild, and it’s good for sandwiches and melting. D’allevo is the aged one, aged for months or even over a year, and it gets firmer and sharper with time, which is why the older versions are often grated.

How to eat it

The fresh style is a good everyday cheese for crackers and sandwiches. See also Asiago Pressato DOP Rosso, and for what the DOP label means, see What does DOP or PDO mean on a cheese?