Most of the truffled cheeses come
from Italy, until recently I had not been able to find one
from any other country. But there is now a French truffled triple cream
listed below.
If you have never tried a cheese
with either white or black truffles in it, you are missing out.
They are
NOT an acquired taste. My thirteen year
old begs for Boschetto for his lunchbox
and
has for years. A tasting of all of them side by side
with a big Italian
Barolo would
be an excellent holiday gathering. These are members of what
I call
"Oh my God"
cheeses because that is all you hear when people first taste them.
Almost
none of them are available at the retail level unless you are lucky
enough to live
near a good
cheese store.
For the rest of us, they can be ordered through
iGourmet.com
at excellent prices.
Boschetto al Tartufo Bianchetto
This gem was nicknamed the crack cocaine of cheese by one
of the customers attending a cheese tasting. It is really wicked, we give
you one free little taste
of this cheese and you are hooked. I have had customers call me at 8 am to
ask if this cheese
had arrived. I told them and tell them that the FedEx guy does not come
until 1 'o' clock. My young
son is always asking where is some more Boschetto. But enough with the
testimonials. This is
a springy white cheese, that kind of reminds you in texture of US made
mozzarella. There is no
similarity in taste. It is made with a cow and sheep milk blend and is
infused with white truffle
shavings. It comes in a 1.4 pound ball in a little basket, which makes it
a nice gift without any
further wrapping or fuss. Boschetto is fairly
expensive. but not when you consider that an
actual white truffle can go for
$20,000 per ounce. I do not mean to scare you off, it is within
a normal
budget.
Boschetto is my favorite of the truffled cheeses because I prefer white truffles
to black and
it is simply so versatile.
It melts well so it makes a stunning grilled cheese on a rustic wheat bread.
It's even better if
some sautéed porcini mushrooms go with it. Lots of people love it just
shredded on top of
scrambled eggs in the morning and of course a Boschetto and mushroom omelet
would be
sublime. This melts well enough to be used in a fondue and I have seen
that done. One of my
customers made a pizza out of it, with a white sauce base, mushrooms, roasted
garlic and
Boschetto melted on top. Melted on top of a risotto is yet another use for
this versatile cheese.
It is one that I keep in my home as a routine since it can be used for so many
things. We do
run out constantly. For a great mushroom dip/spread recipe where Boschetto
would go
well click here.
Boschetto Al Tartufo Stagionato New from Il
Forteto is an all sheep's milk version of
Boschetto. It's a little dryer and sharper and is aged four months.
I had the pleasure of
trying this cheese recently and it is even better than regular Boschetto if that
is possible,
but it does not melt very well.
Bianco Sottobosco
Serve this to the person who thinks they know everything
about food, wine,
etc. It would be completely unusual for them to ever have heard of this
cheese. It is a dryer
type cheese and not good for melting. It is also made with both cow and
sheep milk and has
black truffles from Alba incorporated into the cheese. It comes in an 8 oz
cylinder with a
nice label. This cheese is almost completely unknown outside the region it
is produced, so you
can be sure of having something different with Sottobosco.
Caciotta Dei Boschi
When you see Caciotta in the name of a cheese that means
it is a farmhouse
cheese made from sheep milk. This cheese has a little dryer consistency
than Boschetto but
is a wonderful and thankfully a little less expensive truffled cheese. It
is made by the Lopez
company, a highly respected, family owned business. Caciotta has bits of
porcini mushroom
as well as black truffle to make this a very earthy taste.
Sottocenere
is my second favorite in the truffled cheese category.
It is a fresh cheese made
with only cow's milk and black truffles. It has an ash coating, while
technically edible, is not
good to eat. Set the Sottocenere out for maybe 2 hours instead of one.
It becomes soft and
melts in your mouth kind of like a brie. If you have to pick only 2 from
this list, this would be
second. I have to add that Sottocenere is not available at iGourmet as of this
writing, if you
find some somewhere, snag it! Perlagrigia with Truffles is very similar.
Tartufino Speziato
Made by the same company as Sottocenere, I have not tried this cheese
personally but it looks fabulous as do all of the cheeses in this category. It
does not say what
kind of milk is used, but it is rubbed with virgin olive oil and lots of spices
including nutmeg and
black truffle flavoring.
Sounds like a great combination.
Tenerella While I
don't think Tenerella is the best tasting cheese of this bunch, it is definitely
the coolest. A sack is made with fresh mozzarella and is filled with fresh
ricotta, white truffle
shavings and a drop of cream. Then the sack is "tied" at the top.
This is a visually spectacular
cheese. You cut it open to reveal the cheese inside and its very dramatic.
This is best served
with something sturdy to dip into the middle. It comes sealed in a plastic
bag with a little
brine to keep it fresh. It is really a great conversation piece as well.
I have served it many
times and it was always a big hit. This cheese goes better with a softer
wine, perhaps a
Pinot Grigio. It is often served as dessert with pears, apples or green
grapes.
Perlagrigia with Truffles
I just recently tried this cheese during the 2005 holiday
season.
It immediately sold out at a tasting and I have added it to my list of
favorites. This is most
closely related to Sottocenere, and is made with only cow's milk. It is a
young fresh cheese
and if you are new to unusual cheeses it may be a good one to try first.
Moliterno Black Truffle Pecorino
Sardinian Cheeses are hard to come by in the US and
this one is amazing. It's made with raw sheep's milk cheese and the
truffles are added
after the cheese develops. It has truffle veins throughout. A
totally incredible find.
It is relatively inexpensive as well.
Petit Brillat Savarin with Truffles
Finally a French truffled cheese. This is a
triple cream
cheese rolled in black truffle shavings. It comes in a 4 oz. ball. Total
decadence.
Crutin with Black Truffle
A hard cheese that is a blend of cow and goat milk, which
is
rare in a truffled cheese. Best used for cooking and grating.
These are all the truffled cheeses I
am aware of. I am confident that you will love all of them
and will get raves if you send them as gifts or serve them at parties. All
of these can be
ordered from iGourmet.com
also a family owned company. They know the names of the cows the milk
came from and that is not even an exaggeration. Tracy, my contact at
iGourmet is the third
generation of her family in this business along with her 2 brothers. They
do a fabulous job
and are committed to bringing you only the very best and they succeed.
