Last night I had a group of good friends over fora little dinner get together. As always, I pull together a plate of cheeses, olives and veggies to satiate my hungry guests and they sip on glasses of vino.
While strolling through the grocery I happened upon a cheese that reminded me of something I had tried years ago. The cheese from days gone by was written about in a posting titled Crispins Cheese Discovery. It was amazing and smooth, just like a big hunk of delicious butter melting in a warm saucepan.
Crescenza, as the cheese is named comes from Bellwether Farms in Petaluma, CA.
On the Web site they tell a wonderful story about its origins...
"The recipe for our Crescenza was learned on a trip to Northern Italy in the spring of 1996. One of our customers, Carlo Middione, recommended we try this cheese. We were introduced to a small cheese maker a little west of Milan who processed about 100 gallons of milk at a time and made a variety of cheeses from each batch. Her creamery was a two person operation located on her family’s dairy. The dairy was large and sold most of its milk to some large customer but she ran the small creamery and cheese shop herself. We spent the day with her and were able to help her make her cheeses. After returning to the US, I began working on the Crescenza. It took about 6 months before I was able to adjust the recipe to account for the higher butterfat and solids of the Jersey cow’s milk we were using. The secret of this cheese is balancing the acid development with moisture level in the correct he cheese to have it ripen properly."
I paid about $9 for 1/2 lb., which I felt was a little pricey, but well worth the cost.
Check this delicious soft-ripened cheese out for yourself and if you cannot find it in your hometown then order from the site.
Enjoy!
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