Know your cheese

Taleggio: Available in solid square or rectangular blocks, this cheese is made only from cow’s milk. The taste varies from mild to sharp, depending upon age. When it is young, it’s pale yellow and semi-firm. With age, the flavor gets more pronounced, the color deepens on the inside and it gets less firm. The orange pink rind is coated in mould and therefore it has a stronger taste.

Gorgonzola: This Italian cheese earns its name from a village which was once on the outskirts of Milan; it is now a suburb of the city. Made from pasteurized cow’s milk, it is ivory-colored with blue-green veins. Gorgonzola is sweeter and softer when it is young and is called Gorgonzola dolce. And as it ages, it becomes firm, crumbly and spicy and is called Gorgonzola Picante. The flavor comes out when paired with full-bodies red wines.

Castelmagno: This cylindrical cheese is a semi-fat cheese made primarily from cow’s milk, added to some sheep and goat milk. It has a delicate, savory flavor which becomes almost salty as it ages. The interior is crumbly and of pearl-white or yellow color. The rind is thin and reddish yellow, and becomes darker and more wrinkled with age.

Tip: When refrigerating cheese, wrap it in wax paper. This prevents it from drying, but allows it to breathe and develop its taste.