A Look At Some Rare Italian Cheeses

Everyone is familiar with these popular Italian cheeses: Parmesan, Mozzarella, Provolone, Ricotta and Asiago. You can find these in any grocery store, and they are popular in many recipes. But these are only a few of the delicious cheeses Italy has to offer! It’s time to get to know some of the lesser known varieties and expand your knowledge and palette.

Ubriaco. Ubriaco is a hard cheese made of cow’s milk. What makes it truly amazing is that it is matured in wine! Ubriaco means drunken in Italian. It is covered with the rinds of the grapes after pressing and then soaked in the wine for up to six months. The cheese then takes on the flavor of whatever type of grape wine it’s soaked in. It will have a dark purple rind and a fruity wine flavor.

Castelmagno. This cheese is made of a mixture of cow’s milk and either goat or sheep milk, that has been left sitting overnight. Then, in the morning, fresh milk is added. When cured, it has fine blue veins, which are a result of it being aged in a damp cellar. The flavor is a bit spicy, and it usually has a pungent smell.

Ragusano. Ragusano is a cheese that comes from Sicily, an island of the coast of Italy. It is from the town of Ragusa, hence the name. They make from the unpasteurized milk of a special breed of cow called the Modicana, and only in small batches. It’s a hard cheese, and because it is rubbed down with oil and vinegar it has a savory, mildly tangy taste.

Montasio. In the thirteenth century the Maggio monastery make this cheese out of sheep’s milk. Today it is made throughout northeastern Italy and is instead made of cow’s milk. It continues to harden as it ages and has a fruity taste. Some say they taste a hint of pineapple!

Pannerone. Pannerone is a soft and creamy cow’s milk cheese that melts in your mouth. It is subjected to many different processes, from curdling to storing at high temperatures for a week, then a week of cooler temperatures. After these two weeks it is ready to eat. The limited curing time means that it can be hard to find as it cannot be easily shipped in that short period. Many people confuse it with Gorgonzola, but Pannerone does not have any veining. It’s a smooth cheese with a bitter after taste.

Fiore Sardo. This cheese is only made in Sardinia. Here they use raw sheep’s milk. Because Sardinia is dry and hot, the cheese cures in very different conditions to those common in northern Italy and has a unique flavor. It is cured in smoke, and is rubbed in sheep fat or olive oil during the curing process. It is smoky, sweet, and can be semi-hard to hard.

These Italian cheeses are not commonly found in grocery stores, which is part of what makes them so appealing. To find them, you will have to visit a specialty shop. If you do not have an Italian foods market near you, check with another special foods market to see if they can order some for you. It may be expensive, but it is certainly cheaper than a plane ticket to Italy! And when you consider the wonderful experience of sampling some of the world’s finest Italian cheeses, the cost is really very small.

Learn more about Italian cheeses. Stop by Franklin Baggoio’s site where you can find out all about gourmet imports and what it can do for you.