One of these years, I’m going to take a clicker to the Winter Fancy Food Show so I can count exactly how many cheeses I sampled. Sixty? Seventy? My self-discipline melts like hot mozzarella at this three-day extravaganza. I’m looking for trends and the next big stars, so I soldier on. Eighty cheeses?
This year I spotted a lot of wheels coated with dried herbs, flowers and spices—perhaps inspired by the success of Alp Blossom the German phenom. Be on the lookout for Ghiotto (above right), a delicate bloomy-rind goat’s milk disk cloaked in calendula petals from Italian affineur Cora Formaggi. Ghiotto means delicious, and that’s as good a description as any.
Capriole Julianna, an aged goat cheese coated in herbes de Provence, safflower petals and calendula petals, predates Alp Blossom by several years. It is my favorite of this Indiana producer’s cheeses, and it was as mellow, creamy, and herbaceous as ever when I had it at an event preceding the show.
Wildflower, from German producer Baldauf, is an Alp Blossom lookalike. Baldauf is just securing U.S. distribution so we should soon see more of its fine alpine cheeses.
Water-buffalo cheeses are on the march, and I was smitten by those from Australian cheesemaker Kris Lloyd. Her Persian Feta with buffalo milk, a fresh cheese packed in oil with herbs, is silky and spreadable. It’s not feta, despite the name, but it would certainly be at home in a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives. Lloyd also produces a similar cheese with camel’s milk (top left), a bit leaner in taste but still luscious. Wild camels are a growing problem in Australia’s outback, and the government is culling them. Lloyd hopes that developing cheeses made with their milk will spare some of these animals.
Guffanti’s raw-milk Robiola di Roccaverano was a revelation for me. Guffanti has modified the recipe and aging procedure to slow the ripening of this Italian goat cheese so it can last 60 days (the minimum required by the FDA) and still have some lifespan when it arrives in the U.S. Without that tweaking, this classic robiola would be an only-in-Italy experience. At the show, it was mushroomy, yeasty and perfectly ripe.
Also from Italy, the Taleggio Bergamasco from importer Forever Cheese made a big impression. Unlike conventional Taleggio, which has a moist, tacky rind from multiple brine washes, the Bergamasco version is washed only once, then allowed to develop a natural rind. It delivers all the beefy, earthy, saline flavor of traditional Taleggio…and then some.
Forever Cheese also had three superb aged sheep cheeses that I hope merchants will embrace: Urepel from France’s Basque region, El Abuelo Ruperto from Spain and Regginella d’Abruzzo from Italy. Retailers, we want these!
I’ve been a fan of Casa Forcello mostarda (made by Le Tamerici) since visiting the facility near Mantova several years ago. These chunky fruit preserves, scented with spicy mustard oil, are sublime with aged sheep cheeses, blue cheeses and Taleggio. The company’s new Orange & Chocolate Mostarda put my conservative taste to the test, but I’m a believer now.
NEW! 2020 World Cheese Tour Classes Announced
Please join me for the ninth year of the World Cheese Tour, a monthly series of guided cheese tastings at the beautiful Silverado Cooking School in Napa. You’ll find new class themes this year and, as always, many new cheeses. I rarely repeat a cheese! Come learn more about Spanish cheeses, raw-milk rockstars, or cheese and wine pairing. Find the complete schedule here.