MASCAR Fan

Saucyman – What is the deal with mascarpone – I know what it is, but what is it?

Mascarpone is best known as the ingredient in tiramisu that makes it so very special. After that the details get blurry…

First, how to say the word: Lots and lots of people vocalize the word with the ‘r’ in the front half - mars-capone – that pronunciation seems to be a prerequisite for using the product on teevee. Officially, it is Mas•kar•POH•Neh, the second half more like pony rather than (Al Ca)pone. Neither being nor speaking Italian and hailing from a place in the great Midwest – a place where you can get beat up for rolling your ‘r’s, I am pretty forgiving about pronouncing and mispronouncing foreign words. The name possibly derives from a style of Italian ricotta called mascherpin. Or mascarpone, the word, evolved from the Italian verb mascherare, meaning to dress up.

Besides the etymology and how to say it properly - everything is just a little confusing about the product. I am staring at a container claiming that mascarpone is a cheese, but mascarpone uses neither rennet nor starter so it is a cheese in a conventional sense. Instead of traditional cheese making enzymes, a mascarpone maker uses citric acid to encourage the dairy to part with some of its moisture. Nothing confusing about this, except citric acid evokes thoughts of a milk maid or cheese maker squeezing lemon juice into heavy cream, but citric acid is made and used industrially by adding a penicillin type of mold to sugar or corn syrup.

The next little bit of uncertainty comes from when it is made. Scores of books tell me, mascarpone is best in the winter in fall. Another volume tells me mascarpone is only worthwhile in spring when cows chew on clover – which, at least, theoretically adds both sweetness and a pale yellow tint to the cheese/not really a cheese. Except mascarpone is available year around: Two weeks ago, far from fall and winter, I had some damn-fine-fresh-as-it-comes mascarpone from Portland Farmers Market and it was so good, I went back and got some more the following week– Expensive and habit forming is a dangerous combination – even if it is just a dairy product.

But mascarpone’s inherent sweetness has little to do with the season or what the cow is chewing on, rather it is a combination of the presence of lactose and the absence of salt. Lactose or milk sugar besides being the part of dairy that people are intolerant of; it is also very sweet. According to Harold McGee, lactose is about half as sweet as table sugar. Because mascarpone isn’t a cheese in the sense the product undergoes chemical changes, the lactose stays intact instead of being converted to smaller, less noticeable sugars. Of course the lack of salt doesn’t make mascarpone any sweeter, it just seems that way with fewer sensations bombarding taste buds.

Without salt to preserve, pasteurization becomes responsible for extending mascarpone’s self-life. Most but not all manufacturers will use Ultra-Pasteurization. ‘Ultra’ makes the process sound super ninja and to an extent it is; 2 seconds @ 280ºƒ. The problem is Ultra-Pasteurization imparts an ever so slightly scalded taste on dairy products, overwhelming some of the subtler flavors in the cream. If one were to find mascarpone made from raw cream, they should do a serious risk analysis to see if the pleasure to potential pain ratio is worth a taste.

So to recap - mascarpone is made from pasteurized cream: Technically a cheese, but not in a traditional sense, it is akin to cream cheese but with double the fat, ridiculously weighing in with 70% butterfat. Mascarpone is sweet, lending itself easily to dessert and fruit with a special affinity for fresh figs but there are some savory dishes that traditionally call for mascarpone. Recently, I saw a very attractive woman make her own cafe correcto of sorts by spooning mascarpone in her coffee instead of grappa - something I had previously never thought to do, it looked so sophisticated, that simple act reminded me it is still a world of possibility and to a lesser extent, there are endless ways to use mascarpone.

Update - SF Chronicle has a thing on Mascarpone too. Copy Cats