Montasio is a semi-hard to hard cow's-milk cheese from Friuli-Venezia Giulia and eastern Veneto in north-eastern Italy, sold as a flat wheel with a smooth, elastic tan rind and a compact, pale straw-yellow paste dotted with small, even eyes. It is mild, milky and supple when young, turning firm, granular, sharp and savoury-nutty with age — and it is the cheese at the heart of frico, the Friulian fried-cheese dish.