Mascarpone is used in various dishes of Lombardy, Italy, where it is a specialty. It is milky-white in color and is easily spread. When fresh, it smells like milk and cream, and often is used instead of butter to thicken and enrich rissoti. It is also the main ingredient of Tiramisu.
The cheese apparently originated in the area between Lodi and Abbiategrasso, Italy, south-west of Milan, probably in the late-16th or early-17th century. The name is said to come from "mas que bueno" (Spanish for "better than good"), or from "mascarpa," a milk product made from the whey of stracchino or aged cheese or it may come from "mascarpia," the local dialect for ricotta, since both cheeses are made by a virtually identical process.