Use aged Fontina for grating because it is semi-hard.
Fontina cheese, originally from the an area in Italy known as the Valle d'Aosta, has a mild to sharp nutty flavor to it, depending on the age of the cheese at the time of purchase. Fontina is a cow's milk cheese with a very pale yellow color. Young Fontina is semi-soft and is often used as a spread for crackers or for a dessert. Aged Fontina is much firmer and is best for grating to use in cooking. A simple box grater or a microplane grater is all you need for freshly grated Fontina cheese.
Instructions
Box Cheese Grater
1. A box grater has four grating surfaces.
Position the cheese grater so that one side of the bottom is touching a clean cutting board and the other side is off the table at an angle.
2. Place the block of cheese parallel to the grater on the designated side chosen. For Fontina cheese, a semi-hard cheese, use the coarse side of the grater.
3. Rub the cheese up and down the grater until it has almost all turned into coarsely grated cheese. Do not grate until your fingers touch the grater, as you can end up scraping your fingers.
Microplane
4. Microplane graters are also commonly used to zest citrus fruits.
Hold the handle of the microplane over a bowl.
5. Hold the cheese on top of the microplane blade.
6. Rub the cheese vigorously back and forth on the microplane blade until it is nearly all grated. Avoid scraping your fingers by stopping when there is just a nub of cheese left.
Tags: Fontina cheese, your fingers, microplane blade, scraping your, scraping your fingers
