Galbani's Mascarpone comes out of Ballabio in Lombardy, the northern Italian region where this style of fresh cream cheese was born. It's a pasteurized cow's milk cheese, made by warming heavy cream and setting it with a touch of acid, then draining it until the texture turns dense and spoonable. The paste is glossy and ivory, soft enough to fold off a spoon but thick enough to hold a peak. On the palate it's all fresh cream, lightly sweet, with no tang and no funk. The finish is short and clean, which is exactly the point: mascarpone is built to carry other flavors rather than dominate them. This is the workhorse mascarpone, the one you reach for when you're making tiramisu, folding cream into a risotto at the last minute, or sweetening it up with a little sugar and vanilla for berries. Galbani has been making it the same way for decades and the consistency is what keeps it on the shelf.
