Taleggio

Taleggio

Taleggio and similar cheeses have been around since Roman times, with Cicero, Cato the Elder, and Pliny the Elder all mentioning it in their writings. The cheese was solely produced in the Val Taleggio until the late 1800s, when some production moved to the Lombardy plain to the south.

The unique micro climate in the natural caves where these cheeses are matured, under the Grigna mountain, is key to the flavour and profile of this cheese. The Mauri family have made cheese near the village of Pasturo for four generations and are the only producer to claim Stagionatura di Grotta (cave ripened) on their products.

Washed and brushed several times over a month, and matured in stacked wooden pine boxes, the cheese develops a thin bloom flecked with grey yeasts and blue Penicillium mould on its distinctive orange rind. Beneath the thin, crusty rind the ivory texture of the cheese begins to change slowly as it ripens, becoming buttery and soft, balanced with a distinctive yeasty flavour.

Specially selected wheels are chosen for further aging in the caves for up to 50 days. The resulting Taleggio di Grotta transforms from a creamy, yeasty cheese, to a slightly firmer, richer and meatier version of the original with a heavier, pronounced rind.

• Taleggio