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Bra’ Duro
(D.O.P. / cow / unpasteurized / hard / 5-6 mos. / Bra, Italy) A long-time staple of the Italian Alpine diet, Bra’Duro is traditionally made from cow’s milk provided by nomadic herdsmen from the valleys, then matured over the winter in cellars in the town of Bra in the province of Cuneo. This hard version has a slightly dry yellow-orange paste, engaging aroma and piquant taste, is equally good as a table cheese as it is shaved over dishes. Cabrales (D.O. / cow-goat-sheep / blue / semi-hard / 2-3 mos. / Asturias, Spain) This rustic cheese is wrapped in either oak or sycamore leaves and ripened for 2-3 months in limestone caves in the Picos de Europa Mountains, where the rampant blue veining flourishes naturally. Cabrales is a semi-hard, sandy blue cheese with a metallic bite, assertive, peppery, lingering flavor, and a mean burn on the finish. It begs for fresh fruit and strong red wine or sherry. Casciotta al Tartufato (sheep-cow/ hard / Urbino, Italy) Casciotta d'Urbino is a crumbly, semi-cooked cheese made from 70-80 % sheep's milk and 20-30 % cow's milk. The rind of the cheese is thin and yellow, and the paste is yellowish white with a sweet flavour. The area of production encompasses all the lands in the provinces of Pesaro. This time-honored cheese was much relished by illustrious figures like Pope Clement XIV and Michelangelo Buonarroti. Caña de Cabra (goat /semi-soft, bloomy / Murcia, Spain) This is a soft-ripened goat cheese log, much like the French Bucheron. The region around Murcia is renowned for its high-quality goat's-milk products. This farm produces a creamy, mild, and full-flavored cheese. Caña de Oveja (sheep / semi-soft, bloomy / 21 days / Murcia, Spain) The first soft-ripened sheep's-milk log in Spain, this cheese is buttery, crumbly and delicious. As it ages, its flavor intensifies. Capra Valtellina (goat / hard / 6 mos. / Italy ) This pasteurized goat cheese is flavorful and complex—clean, saline and herbaceous with a full, bucky bite. The texture is hard and can get quite crumbly. Capra Valtellina is made in the mountains dividing Italy from Switzerland. Capricho de Cabra Aged goat cheese logs made by Lorenzo using the rich and creamy milk of the Murciana goat. Great, straightforward flavor. Cueva Llonin (cow / soft, bloomy /Asturias, Spain) This is a cave-ripened, cow’s milk cheese from Penamellera, Asturias with the texture of a camembert, and a beautiful bloomy rind whose flavor and aroma is marked by herb and mushroom tones. El Cantu (cow / organic / 40 days /Asturias, Spain) This buttery, flavorful cow's milk cheese is a new specialty from Anita and Valentin of Vare fame. Using the cow's milk from their neighbors who practice organic farming, Anita has turned out another winner. The name is Asturian dialect for ''the song''. Fiore Sardo (D.O.P. / sheep / raw / semi-soft / salted rind/ 8 mos. minimum/ Sardinia, Italy) After rennetting, this sheep’s milk cheese is hung over the burning logs of central open fires in moutain huts known as “pinnettes,” which imparts characteristic smokiness to the cheese. It is then matured for approximately 5 months before it is ready for sale. As it ages, it’s flavors become more balanced and versatile. During aging the rind may be rubbed with olive oil and sheep fat to encourage ripening. Fiore Sardo literally means “Sardinian Flower” and it has truly flowery flavor--herbaceous and grassy, with a residual tang on the finish. It has a firm, flaking, craggy paste. This is one of Italy's oldest cheeses, predating the Roman conquest over Sardina. Excellent shaved over salads or with fruit. Fontina (D.O.P. / cow / 3 mos. /Alps, Italy) Fontina originated in the Aosta Valley in the Alps during the 12th century. This cheese is very difficult to make because of the specific requirements of its cheesemaking process. Color and texture of this cheese vary seasonally, but it's always an excellent cheese year-round. Garrotxa (goat / pasteurized / firm / grey mold rind / artisanal / 3-4 wks. / Catalonia, Spain) Garroxta, the most famous cheese of Catalonia, is artisanally produced from milk of goats grazing in local pastures with volcanic ash in the soil. It is mild but flavorful, nutty and herbal, redolent of damp caves and tasting of thyme and rosemary (reflecting the goats’ diet), with a long zinging finish. The interior is moist and cakey. Gorgonzola Dolce (D.O. / cow / blue / 3-6 mos. / Italy) A cheese with 1000 years of tradition, Gorgonzola originated as a naturally blueing stracchino cheese, ripening in caves north of Milan that were rife with naturally occurring penicillum glaucum. Today, however, the Blue cultures are added to the milk before coagulation. Traditionally, Gorgonzola Dolce is made from morning milk only. Rich, pungent and profoundly “sweet”, Dolce is equally superb in sauces for steak and potatoes or mushrooms with a huge, red wine, and for dessert with fresh pears or apples and a fresh glass of Muscato D'Asti. Gotes Catalanes (goat / soft / Catalonia, Spain) Gotes Catalanes is a soft, spreadable goat cheese mixed with fresh garlic and parsley, hand-rolled into little drops and packaged in glass jars or bulk. Gruyere (cow / raw / 12-14 mos. / Switzerland) What a difference cave-aging makes! Produced as 80 lb wheels, cave-aged gruyere is dense, creamy and immense in flavor. Saline, beefy, fruity sharpness pervades the firm paste of this Swiss gem, while small crunchy bits serve as evidence of careful, patient aging. They are the beginnings of amino acid clusters, and offer an unexpected respite from mouthfuls of smooth, savory texture and flavor. Ibores (D.O. / goat / raw / hard / artisanal / Extremadura, Spain) This hard, dense, agreeably peasanty paprika-rubbed goat cheese has a simplicity and richness of flavor that sharpens as it ages. This is one for those who say they don't like goat cheese. Great shaved on a green salad or with ripe tomatoes Idiazabel (D.O. / sheep / raw / smoked / 6 mos. /Navarra, Spain ) This traditional Basque cheese is full-flavored, with a pronounced sheepy finish. Think rare lamb chops, next to the bone: an unadulterated and undeniable animal flavor La Leyenda (sheep / raw / 1 year / La Mancha, Spain) This raw sheep's milk cheese is rubbed with oil and fine herbs and then soaked in solera brandy for 4-5 days. It is beautifully balanced with a nutty finish. Mahon (D.O. / cow / thermalized (not pasteurized) / artisanal / 3 mos. / Minorca, Spain) This orange-rinded cheese has a pale yellow paste with numerous eyes, and a buttery sharp, slightly salty, sweet and nutty aroma. When young, it is softer and pleasantly barnyardy. When aged 6 months to a year, Mahon becomes as magnificent as a Dutch farmer’s gouda Malvarosa (sheep / Valencia, Spain) Produced from Guirra sheep’s milk, a revived, almost extinct breed of sheep, this beautiful cheese is a butterscotchy slice of heaven. It’s shape is called “servilleta” (napkin) from being aged in cheesecloth. Monje (D.O. / cow / raw/ blue / Asturias, Spain) Hailing from the town of Panes, this farmstead blue is robust and creamy, with complex flavors that unfold in layers on the palate. It is wrapped in Plane leaves and gold foil. Manchego (D.O. C. / sheep / hard / La Mancha, Spain) This is Spain’s most famous cheese, made only from the milk of Manchega sheep. It is a hard cheese with buttery, rich flavor, mild finish. At Orange we carry three versions of Manchego: 1) Fresco: Aged 2 mos., young and mild 2) Curado: Aged 1 year, slightly piquant 3) Añejo (or Viejo): Aged 2 years Monje (cow / blue / artisanal / Asturias, Spain) This farmhouse blue is produced in Monje, one of the four towns of Asturias where blues are made--the others are Cabrales, Valdeón & Picos de Europa. Wrapped in plane leaves, Monje is usually made with cow's milk, as goat's & sheep's milk are extremely scarce in this region and available for only a short period in Spring. It is generally more aged than these other blues, with slightly less bluing and a sharp, robust flavor. Murcia Curado (D.O. / goat / semi-hard / 6 mos. / Southeastern Spain) Made Murciana goat’s milk, which is higher in fat and protein than most, this cheese is smooth, milky white with small eye formations throughout. Mild and creamy when young and goatier with age, it has a tangy and sweet finish. Nevat (unpasteurized goat / soft, bloomy / artisanal / Catalonia, Spain) Nevat is a unique, soft-ripened goat cheese invented and produced by Josep of Can Pujol. In the heart of the Barcelones Mountains, he makes this cheese using only his own and neighboring herders’ fresh same-day milk. Nevat's rind is treated with a penicillum mold, enabling a beautiful bloomy white rind that transforms the curd (Nevat means “snowed” in Catalan). It is delicate and sweet with a slight tang, and softens as it matures. Parmigiano Reggiano (D.O.P. / cow / semi-skimmed / hard / 2 years / Italy) So famous, so perfect, so consistent… what can we tell you about Reggiano that you don’t already know? The cows whose milk constitute this cheese are virtually hand-fed special guarded-secret salads of grasses that produce a magnificent, complex flavor. Parmigiano is an unpressed cheese encased within a yellowish-golden and slightly oily rind on which the brand name Parmigiano Reggiano is stencilled in small dots. This very flaky and highly soluble cheese is very finely grained and ranges in colour from ivory white to straw-yellow. Upon eating, a barrage of sweet, salt, spice, and nuttiness simultaneously fill your mouth--that butter, that little crunch, that caramel finish. The white patches visible throughout the interior of the cheese are not salt, but amino acids that cluster together during aging. They lend a distinctive “crunch” in the mouth. There is a vast array of literary, historical and scientific literature relating to this cheese. It first gets a literary mention by Giovanni Boccaccio, while later writers such as Moliére, Diderot and D'Alambert are full of praise for its organoleptic and nutritional properties. Called Parmesan in English, the cheese soon became known beyond the lands in which it is made thanks to the many visitors to Italy who relished its fine taste and quality. Parmigiano Reggiano is manufactured every day in traditional cheese-making plants in Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, as well as some areas located in the provinces of Bologna and Mantua. Orange also sells a soft version of ricotta salata. The production area encompasses many town districts in the provinces of Asti and Alessandria, and the origins of this cheese go back to the time of the Celtic Liguri tribes. In later times, Pliny the Elder and Pantaleone da Confienza speak highly of its qualities and provide descriptions of its manufacture. Our Robiola at Orange is a washed-rind version, artisanally made, creamy and smooth with a fruity finish and a touch of salt.
San Simon/Tetilla (cow / semi-soft / smoked / 15 days / Galicia, Spain) This teardrop-shaped cheese has a caramel-colored exterior and a golden interior with tiny eyes. The subtle smoked flavor comes from aging the cheese on abedul board. Sottocenere (cow / raw / semi-soft / 1 mo. / artisanal / Veneto, Italy) This exotic, labor-intensive cheese has been aged in ashes to preserve it--a Venetian farmers' tradition (Sottocenere literally means "under ash”). These ash ingredients include nutmeg, cloves, coriander, cinnamon, licorice, and fennel, and the cheese itself is laced with black truffle flakes. Its rind is then aromatized with truffled olive oil. Sottocenere’s taste is delicate, unusual, and aromatic with a silky, creamy texture. Strachitunt (cow / blue / unpasteurized / artisanal / 2-3 mos. / Italy) Strachitunt is produced from both morning and evening milk taken only from local Bruna Alpina cows that live at an altitude of 900 meters, to produce a cheese that has two different textures--one soft and one firmer. It is aged in limestone caves in Valtaleggio for over two months. The acidification of the curd coupled with piercing which is done halfway through the aging process, favors the development of natural molds--blues, grays, greens--that characterize the aromatic flavor of the cheese. It is considered a “dolce-amaro” (sweet and sour/tangy). Strachitunt was first created in the Valtaleggio region of Italy in the late 1800's and was enjoyed there until World War II, after which its commercial production ceased entirely. Our supplier, Ca’ de Ambros, revived its recipe and began making the cheese again in 2002. It is once again being made according to the traditional methods, maintaining all of its original characteristics. In production, the rind is alternatively washed, allowed to bloom into deep gray furry coats, then scraped and pressed back into the cheese. Air from the original caves is actually channeled into the ripening rooms. Taleggio has a rough, rosy crust (inedible), straw-yellow interior, and rich, meaty, nutty, slightly salty flavor with fruity nuances. Vare is located inland from the Northern coast of Spain where the landscape is rugged and mountainous--the perfect place for goats. The clean, herbaceous flavor of this cheese goes perfectly with a good loaf of bread and simple bottle of wine. |
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