“Delizioso – Italian Delights”

 Fior di Tiglio – Caseificio Persia, Cavallermaggiore, Piedmont, Italy

Raw, cow’s milk

About: “Fior di Tiglio is a small cheese made by hand from raw cow’s milk.  The cheeses are suspended in individual linen cloths during preparation to create a concave shape on the upper surface.

It is into this concavity that, after salting and initial maturation, the line-tree flower honey is added.

During aging, the honey binds with the cheese, rewarding the palate with delicious floral notes of lime-flower and honey” www. caseificiopersia.it

Testun – Caseificio Persia, Cavallermaggiore, Piedmont, Italy

Raw, cow’s milk

About: “Testun in Piedmontese dialect means ‘big head.’ Traditionally made in the Cuneo area, this cheese has a hard texture with the presence of small, irregular holes.  The more matured variety has a tangy flavor.

During the cheese making process, the fresh cheeses are cracked open by hand, draining them of whey and ensuring a compact texture.

The pronounced flavor is obtained by adding kid-goat rennet to the milk, which provides pleasantly complex notes on the palate” www. caseificiopersia.it.

Bitto DOP – Luigi Guffanti Formaggi, Lombardia, Italy

Raw, cow’s and goat’s milk

About: Named for a stream that runs through the Valtellina, the Bitto is intense, rich and dry with hints of grass and pleasant undertones of a goat cheese tang.

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For those of you with the added Charcuterie of the Month:

Negroni Culatello di Zibello P.D.O – “The history of Culatello seems to date back as far as 1322. Tradition has it that Culatello was invented by chance – it resulted from a butcher’s error in boning a ham. He salted and tied what remained of the meat, thus creating Culatello. Culatello di Zibello, pride of the company, is produced with the most valuable part of a pork leg, coming exclusively from heavy Italian porks. Only sea salt and pepper are added, as per the P.D.O. relevant guidelines. It is cased into natural pork casing, then tied, dried and cured in the magnificent Villa Gambara cellars. The entire processing is made by hand. Every piece of Negroni Culatello di Zibello is individually monitored until the P.D.O. seal is stamped on it by the Parma Institute of Quality. Internationally recognized as one of the most prized products of Italian charcuterie, Culatello di Zibello has maintained its rigorous production routine throughout the centuries. The unique aroma resulting from this long and slow process is intense and unmatched, with a distinctive sweet and fragrant flavor” www.negroni.com.