Mascarpone

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Mascarpone is a triple-creme cheese made from crème fraîche, fresh double cream by fermentation with rennet. Sometimes buttermilk is added as well, depending on the brand. After fermentation, whey is removed without pressing or aging.

One can manufacture mascarpone by using cream, tartaric or citric acid, or even lemon juice.

Mascarpone is used in various dishes of Lombardy, Italy, where it is a specialty. It is milky-white in color and is easily spread. When fresh, it smells like milk and cream, and often is used instead of butter to thicken and enrich risotti. It is also the main ingredient of tiramisu.

The cheese apparently originated in the area between Lodi and Abbiategrasso, Italy, south-west of Milan, probably in the late 16th- or early 17th century. The name is said to come from "más que bueno" (Spanish for "better than good"), or from "mascarpa", a milk product made from the whey of stracchino or aged cheese or it may come from "mascarpia," the local dialect for ricotta; however, it is not made by the same process, nor is mascarpone made from whey as ricotta is.

Mascarpone is often mispronounced as if it were spelled "marscapone," and also often misspelled that way.