Let me for a moment stop all this frippery about floofy cheeses and cheese with stuff in it and cheese that was just invented last week. Let me speak of a classic. Fontina Val d’Aosta, an Italian name-controlled raw milk cheese dating back to the 13th Century. Nutty, earthy, and a little pungent, it’s fantastic on polenta or as an ingredient in fondue. For a winter dessert course, I’m imagining a plate with Fontina, creamy goat Brunet, and a wedge of the hard and nutty-sweet Piave surrounded by dried figs and drizzled with honey.
The days are getting longer and most of the holidays are behind us (don’t forget we’re closed next Monday the 19th, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday), so finally I have enough mental stability to sit down and write for a moment.
Hi. I missed you.
The cheese says hi to.
Newness and goodness:
Italian Quadrello di Bufala, sakes alive!! It’s a buffalo milk Taleggio, and it’s gollygoshdarn good. Not as stinky as some Taleggios I’ve had, but nonetheless similarly wonderful, and aditionally graced with the creamy richness of buffalo milk. Water buffalo, not bison. It’s definitely my favorite new thing, and I’m at this very moment making eager animal noises in its honor.
Grrarrr! Meow! Hisssss! Ook!
Know what’d be fun? Ask some questions. Seriously. Clicka clicka your cheese queries in our direction and we’ll try to answer them.
