"D.A.Martinich" > ha scritto nel messaggio
oups.com...
> IMHO, Danish Fontina does not compare with the Italian. A similar
> cheese from Northern Italy is Fontal which is available at TJ's for
> about $7 a pound. And yes, they are both sinful... You should try the
> Italian and see for youself.
>
> D.M.
>
Um,

Danish "Fontina," if it's made in Denmark and not by some Dane in Podunk, is
illegal. Fontina, like a great many other European foodstuffs, is DOP
(Denominazione di origine protetta -- don't know the English equivalent),
which roughly translates as Denomination of Certified Origin, in other
words, only the people in the traditional production area who follow the
traditional production techniques can use it. If you're a cheesemaker in
neighboring Piemonte you can't make Fontina (not that you'd want to,
considering the richness and variety of Piemonte's cheeses) and you
certainly can't make it in Denmark.

It's high time the US and other non-European areas started using local names
for their foodstuffs, rather than aping European names. Vermont and
Wisconsin Cheddar, for example, can be superb, but if you've ever had the
real stuff from England you'll realize they're not Cheddar. Perhaps just as
good, but different because the cattle are different, as are the forage
(sp?) and the air. So why not give them names that people will recognize and
seek out. Say, Cabbot cheese for Vermont? It will take food producers a
while to build up their reputations, but it will be worth it. Smithfield
means ham in the US, much the way Parma means Prosciutto or Parmigiano for
lots of people worldwide.

Kyle
http://italianfood.about.com