mascarpone

The word's origin is disputed. The most likely derivation connects it to Lombard dialect mascarpa or mascherpa, a term for fresh whey cheese similar to ricotta. Another theory — beloved by food writers and probably invented by a marketing department — claims a sixteenth-century Spanish governor in Lombardy tasted the cream cheese and exclaimed 'Mas que bueno!' ('Better than good!'). This is folk etymology at its most charming and least credible.

Mascarpone is not technically a cheese. It is made by heating cream (not milk) with an acid (tartaric acid or citric acid), then straining. No bacterial culture. No rennet. No aging. The result is a thick, rich, slightly sweet cream with a butterfat content around 60-75%. It has been made in Lombardy since at least the sixteenth century, originally as a winter product when cream was abundant and temperatures were low enough to keep it fresh.

Tiramisu made mascarpone famous. The dessert — mascarpone, eggs, sugar, coffee, ladyfinger biscuits, cocoa — appeared in the Veneto region in the 1960s or 1970s (the exact origin is disputed between several restaurants). Tiramisu became the most popular Italian dessert in the world by the 1990s, and mascarpone's name traveled with it. Before tiramisu, few people outside northern Italy had heard of mascarpone.

Mascarpone is now available in supermarkets worldwide. American pronunciation varies: 'mas-car-POH-nay' is common but technically has an extra syllable. The Italian is four syllables: mas-car-PO-ne. The cheese is used in risottos, pasta sauces, cheesecakes, and frostings — wherever richness and smoothness are wanted without the tang of cream cheese. A regional Lombard cream became a global ingredient, pulled into international recognition by a coffee-soaked dessert.