I was reading an interesting blog post on the come puoi non amarla blog this morning about a fabulous sounding goat cheese producer who also runs an agriturismo near Cuneo in Piemonte.
Anna Savino happened to sample the cheeses there and came away with a few tips. One of them was interesting and fundamental. It was about temperature, which is very, very important to Italians and to the enjoyment of food in general. It is this:
We eat cheese TOO COLD! He said as soon as we called in the morning to book they put all the cheese out on the table for us.
Yes, we do. One’s tongue doesn’t receive much taste when it is being frozen by the food—and it’s a sin not to taste something so you miss out on rejoicing in its laborious creation. One of the things I miss about Italy (or France, Spain, Portugal…) is the cheese course. I mean, when I ask for cheese at a California restaurant and they plop down an ice cold block of Monterey Jack on an ice cold plate in front of me, I dream of flinging the whole deal like a destructive Frisbee back to the kitchen, hoping without hope it will knock some sense into whoever thought it was a good idea to serve mediocre cheese at freezing temperatures. The thing is this: digging into a cold block of Monterey Jack is as close to eating a block of wax as you’ll ever get—blech! (unless you happen to have a candle-eating fetish.)
Piemonte has over 160 cheeses they told me when I was there, but I would have to guess that there are way more than that. In Italy, you don’t have to make cheese like everyone else makes it, so I bet there are folks just making something they’ve always called “formaggio” who haven’t had their style of cheese counted. After all, I used to think that Tuscany meant pecorino and basta! until I discovered the many cheesy delights of Naturalmente Lunigiana.
In any case, you want a link with pictures to the joint that makes and serves goat cheese right, eh? Here: Az.Agrituristica Lo Puy. The page is in Italian but the pictures are nice and will suck you in. They did me, anyway. You must reserve; they’re open Thursday through Sunday. Saturday is interesting:
Sabato sera (dalle 19,30): Piatti di capra o di capretto ispirati a ricette delle varie tradizioni pastorali.
We’re talkin’ ‘bout goat or kid with recipes inspired by the traditions of the shepherds here. Mmmm.
Andiamo! Throw down your American poison eggs and pack your bags!
[Related: Can you save a dying cheese tradition by taking a fab vacation in Portugal? Well, maybe. See Visiting Serra da Estrela: Saving Queijo do Serra