More CHEESE

OK, now I will talk about Cheese for real! There are booths for all the Presidi cheeses from Slow Food from all around the world which includes Yak cheese from Tibet! Also present were cheeses from eastern Europe-Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia, etc. Of course the best cheeses in the world seconda Dwight are from Italy. France and England, so most of my time was spent exploring those areas. The favorites were (not in any particular order) Quickes Traditional unpasteurized Cheddar, Stichelton which is a Stilton type of cheese which is unpasteurized as well, Macagn which I brought back to the states last time and hales from the mts of Piemonte, Castel from the Latteria Perenzin from Treviso which is now tied as my favorite from Italy with the Macagn. www.perenzin.com for a better look.
The last cheese has a soft crust and a very creamy layer just under the crust which is properly stinky but incredible and then deeper it is of a denser consistency,,, very strange, but great!
Also making the list are the Pecorino cheeses of the Marche from Monte Sibillina, of course and our tasting weekends will include these cheeses and the Pecorino wines every Saturday in October.
I visited as many booths as my stomach could stand and interspersed those visits with a run to the Ascoli stand where they sold the stuffed Ascolana olives.
I was also able to attend a session with the cheese makers of the Netherlands and England who are carrying on the old traditions and making unpasteurized Cheddars and Stiltons which I mentioned above. If you go to London, DON'T miss Burrough's Market and Neil's Yard!! the latter for cheeses of incredible quality!
The traditional gouda cheese made from single producers and with unpasteurized milk (are you seeing the pattern here) are now limited to 2 of the 200 producers and their cheese is fabulous especially after 2 or 4 years. Find some if you can. The stuff you buy in the store in red plastic is Edam and not Gouda and is tasteless rubber!
Another dinner and concert Saturday night finished the day right and then Sunday, more cheeses, a tasting at the Piemonte booth and also at the blue cheese booth which were moderately disappointing and then a mini festa with Diego the mythical proprietor of Tabarro on via Farini in Parma. We sampled a slew of wines with him in the Piazza XX settembre after all else had closed down and then searched for a disco before retiring around 0200.
Party pix will be in a separate post.
Monday I returned to Nascondiglio di Bacco with a slight detour to Loreto to see the church famous for housing Mary's house from Nazareth. Those pix also on a different post.
Finally last night I had a real meal with real food but also with cheese made by Raffa with a couple of friends joining us and we tried the great Treviso cheese and also a cheese from the Netherlands with cloves inside (particulare!)
Today was a day of cleaning and now for blog writing. Stay tuned for the party photos, but these are showing the Perenzin stand, the eastern European cheese booths, the blue cheese sampling area, French chevre of all types and the educational area for the kids. dds