An array of new Italian introductions is drumming up excitement at the cheese counter.
No cheese merchant can afford to be without the Italian classics, from earthy Taleggio and piquant Gorgonzola to Parmigiano-Reggiano. But cheese counters today need to make more room for a tidal wave of newcomers from Italy. Scented, spiced, wine-soaked, and leaf-wrapped, these newbies signal a fresh infusion of creativity in a cheesemaking culture not known for invention.
To stay current and keep your mongers and customers engaged, give some of these new Italian arrivals a test run. They may require hand selling, but they will position you as a cutting-edge retailer and help your counter stand out.
“Italians are experimenting with milk in ways they never have before,” says Aaron Kirtz of Forever Cheese, the New York-based importer. “There’s a lot of broadening of perspective and flavors and taking risks on things. It’s not as traditional as it always had been.” Kirtz points to the expanding use of water-buffalo milk and a resurgence in cheeses coagulated with thistle rennet as examples.
The adventurous Sergio Moro of Moro Formaggi in the northern Italian province of Treviso is among the risk takers who have helped lead the flavor revolution. His Sottocenere al Tartufo, with its spice-rubbed rind, opened the floodgates on truffled cheeses, and Moro has continued innovating since.
“He’s the ultimate mad-scientist experimenter,” says Kirtz.
Moro’s more recent fantasies include the captivating Fior d’Arancio, a cow’s-milk blue wheel pierced and steeped in sweet Fior d’Arancio wine, with candied orange on top for good measure. “It’s like blue-cheese candy,” says Kirtz. “Some people are turned off by blue cheese, but the wine mellows all that and you get the sweeter side of blue.”
Continuing on the steeping theme, Moro makes a range of so-called “drunken” cheeses soaked in regional wines, including Ubriaco del Piave, which spends 40 hours in a red-wine blend; Ubriaco al Prosecco; and a new Ubriaco steeped in Ribolla Gialla, a local white wine, and aged for 10 months. “They do taste distinct,” says Kirtz. “The Ubriaco al Prosecco smells and tastes like prosecco. It has that brightness to it.”
Next up from Moro: a line of cocktail-themed cheeses. Forever Cheese is expecting its first shipment of Negroni Blue, blue-veined wheels inspired by the popular aperitivo and presumably steeped in gin, Campari, and vermouth. “People love the idea,” says Kirtz, who presented it at the 2019 Summer Fancy Food Show. “It’s playful.”
Kevin Corcoran, a West Coast sales rep for importer/distributor Food Matters Again, admires the distinctive cheeses emerging from Romagna Terre. This producer in Italy’s Romagna region introduced the juniper-scented Pecorino Ginepro years ago and has since built on that success with Pecorino Camomilla (coated in dried chamomile), Pecorino Gelsomino (coated with jasmine flowers) and Pecorino Canapa (coated in dried hemp). These are head-turning cheeses: original, beautiful, buttery, and delightfully aromatic.
La Via Lattea, a 22-year-old creamery in the Piedmont region, now produces more than 100 styles of goat cheese of astonishing novelty—among them, the soft-ripened coffee-crusted Insonne (translation: sleepless); the delightful Camilla, a semi-firm raw goat toma coated in dried chamomile; and the hugely aromatic Ol Sciur, a moist, fruity raw-milk blue coated with crushed berries and rose petals.
From Quattro Portoni, the Lombardy producer that pioneered buffalo-milk cheese production in northern Italy, keep an eye out for Liteggio di Bufala. The creamery’s first raw-milk cheese, it’s a 4-pound wheel with a natural rind matured for about three months. Jonathan McDowell, a sales rep for the Aniata Cheese Company, is enthusiastic about Ilatia Burrata di Bufala from Campania. Most water-buffalo milk goes to mozzarella production, so burrata made with this extra-rich milk is harder to find. Savvy retailers will arm their staff with suggestions for how to use burrata in winter: sliced on polenta; on an antipasto platter with sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and preserved eggplant; or on bruschetta with sautéed rapini.
Using an extract from the flower of a thistle (Cynara cardunculus) to coagulate milk for cheese is a traditional practice in parts of Spain and Portugal. At Fiandino, a family-run creamery in Piedmont, the procedure is being revived to make lovely cheeses like Lou Bergier Pichin, a raw cow’s-milk tomme; and Gran Kinara, a large, year-old wheel in the style of Parmigiano-Reggiano but produced with thistle rennet.
Other Italian cheeses generating enthusiasm among importers and retailers include Gildo Formaggi’s Cascina Capra, a roughly 5-pound washed-rind goat cheese matured in natural caves for about two months. It has a semi-firm interior and a sweet, delicate flavor. “It reminds me of a Toma Piemontese but it’s all goat’s milk,” says Corcoran. “It’s a little creamier than the typical toma, with a floral, mushroomy cave aroma.” Cru di Capra, a 7-pound goat wheel matured for five months, is from the same producer.
Every cheese lover knows Taleggio, but the new Taleggio Bergamasco is its rogue cousin, matured with a natural rind rather than the expected brine-washed rind. It has a longer life, says Kirtz, which should appeal to merchants. Whether it will disappoint or delight fans of traditional Taleggio remains to be seen.
To generate in-store excitement, consider showcasing some of these new arrivals in an Italian cheese promotion. Challenge mongers to develop some all-Italian cheese boards, with Italian accompaniments like chestnut honey and grissini. Casa Forcello, a superb Italian mostarda producer, has two dramatic new flavors for cheese-board artists to play with: a pink grapefruit mostarda and another version with orange rind and chopped chocolate. Paired with sheep cheese or blue cheese, these pungent condiments could help staff and shoppers create platters that are Instagram stars.
