The Northern Italian Table Cheeses
With the seasons slowly but surely changing, I wanted to highlight a few cheeses from the Italian alps that seem to fly under the radar.
Formai Di Mut
“Mountain Pasture” in the Bergamo dialect. Formai Di Mut is in with the “Slow Food,” movement, that governs much of the Italian food culture. Exceptional milk quality, treated simply.
Raw cow’s milk from pastures overlooking the province of Bergamo create this cheese exuding flavours of hazelnut, vanilla and hay. There is not one note that is overpowering, balance is key. The wheels we have are 10 months and are graduating into a mountain cheese that demands attention (but I would not sway you from melting into a number of dishes).
Toma Piemontese
Hailing from the region of its namesake, this cheese has flown under the radar for years, but has remained a perennial favourite amongst us mongers.
Toma Piemontese offers a much more meaty, animalistic (a compliment) profile than many classic French tommes. This is all balanced with a strong lick of salt and the subtle funk on the rind will keep one interested.
Ciao for now.
Jakob
