Provolone Valpadana (Valpadana = Po River Valley, Northern Italy) is an Italian pasta-filata cheese which carries the DOC [Denominazione di Origine Controllata (controlled designation of origin)] label. The most classic type has a cylindrical form and is usually rather big; the other common type has the form of a mandarin orange or pear. The weight of the loaves varies from a few hundred grams up to 10 kilograms (from about a pound to over 20 lb.) for the short-time aged cheese and from some kilograms up to 100 kilograms (over 200 lb.) for the Provolone which is aged for a longer time.