Piave is an Italian cheese from the Belluno province in the Dolomites. The cheese is named after the river Piave, which flows through the province from north to south. It is a cooked and ripe, hard cheese made with cow's milk from the province. The cheeses are in the form of a flat cylinder, with a diameter of 27 to 31 cm, a height of about 7 cm and a weight of 5.5 to 7 kg.
There are several types:
The cheese's crust is soft and light colored at the "Fresco", and gets harder and darker in the older species. The cheese itself is white with the young cheese, straw in the older one, which is also drier, more granular and smoother. The taste also varies, from a sweet milk flavor to "Fresco" and "Mezzano" to a full, spicy taste with the old cheeses.
"Piave" has been a DOP (Denominazione d'Origine Protetta) in Italy since 25 June 2009. In the European Union, the cheese has a protected designation of origin (PDO) since 21 May 2010.
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