To make your Friuli recipes taste as authentic as possible, try and buy a Montasio DOP cheese.

It is a compact cheese which is produced on the high Alpine plain of the same name at some 1500 meters in altitude.

Earliest recorded mentions of the cheese date back 400 years.

It is matured for a period of 2 to 5 months for the soft and delicate variety, and for a year for the full flavor, fresher and harder version. Both contain almost imperceptible holes.

The province of Pordenone also produces some other interesting varieties.

First up is 'La Formella del Friuli' made from full cream milk which has been left to sour slightly. The cheese is soft and has a surprisingly sweet taste.

Next is 'Frico Balacia'. This cheese is typical of the Val Cellina and is especially suitable for cooking in a frying pan.

Finally, we recommend the creamy cheese from Val Tramontina called 'Cit'.

This product was once the the poor man's choice as it was made from defective pieces of other cheeses.

Today, it is produced irregularly in small quantities and is something of a find.