May Cheese Subscription Box
There is something we truly love about autumn with its chilly mornings clearing to bright sunny days. The distinctly cooler weather makes us think of all the delicious warming meals we want to make after a trip to the local farmers market: mushrooms sautéing in butter, chestnuts roasting, maybe a slow braise in the oven.
Which cheeses can you expect in your May Cheese Subscription Box? Thanks for asking.
We are excited to be able to bring you Vannella Smoked Buffalo Mozzarella exclusively with this month’s subscription box. Produced in limited quantities, its delicately smoked flavour adds a truly special element to an already indulgent fresh cheese. Mauri Formaggi Taleggio is synonymous with autumn as far as we’re concerned – just look at its orange-tinged rind. The buttery, unctuous interior though, once tasted, is never forgotten.
Il Forteto Cacio di Bosco Tartufo Stagionato (long name and totally worth attempting to say aloud) is a delicious eating cheese but can also add that little something extra special with its distinctive truffle flavour to the simplest of dishes. G. Cravero Parmigiano Reggiano – now this exceptional cheese will banish all thoughts of ‘a mere parmesan’ from your mind. It is a superb choice to nibble on with a cheeky glass of prosecco.
Whatever your autumn cooking projects or even a cheese board by the fire, our May Cheese Subscription Box is the answer.
VANNELLA SMOKED BUFFALO MOZZARELLA
Buffalo milk, Marrickville, NSW
Vannella Smoked Buffalo Mozzarella is made from rich & creamy buffalo milk which is then cold-smoked with beechwood. Beneath the thick, slightly salty, stretched-curd skin, lies a tender milky heart that is smooth and rich, its texture slowly softening with age. Its gentle earthy flavour adds a unique dimension to many dishes.
Vannella Cheese was born in the southern Italian town of Conversano, Puglia when founder Vito Minoia became apprenticed to a cheesemaker at age 16, and learned to make cheese and stretch curd by hand. After working at some of Italy’s best cheese facilities, he returned to Conversano to marry Pina Vannella and start a family. Upon moving to Australia, they eventually settled in Sydney and established Vannella Cheese, using their Italian traditions to create quality cheese.
Goes well with: Caprese salad with late season tomatoes, gnocchi with spicy sausage, mushroom pizza
Drink options: full-bodied white wines and lighter reds such as Pinot Noir, Gamay
MAURI FORMAGGI TALEGGIO DOP
Cow milk, Lombardy, Italy
Mauri Formaggi Taleggio DOP is a classic Italian washed rind cheese with a creamy texture and a distinctive yeasty flavour. It is washed and brushed several times over a month, the cheese developing a thin bloom flecked with grey yeasts and blue Penicillium mould on a distinctive orange rind. As the cheese ripens the interior becomes buttery and soft.
In the 1920s, Emilio Mauri built a large facility in the small mountain village of Pasturo to make cheese as well as to ripen local cheeses - the natural caves of Valsassina offering the perfect microclimate for maturing cheese.
Goes well with: autumnal foods such as apples (to contrast the rich creaminess) or lean into earthy flavours like mushrooms and cured meats, excellent on a pizza with potato, rosemary & caramelised onion
Drink options: Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, Gamay, yeasty Blonde Beer
IL FORTETO CACIO DI BOSCO TARTUFO STAGIONATO
Ewes milk, Tuscany, Italy
Il Forteto Cacio di Bosco Tartufo Stagionato is an aged pecorino from Tuscany with the addition of fresh black truffle. The freshness of the truffle flavour belies the additional ageing of this resulting in a firm texture without being dry.
Il Forteto (the fort) is a commune tucked away in the Muggelano Valley, 30km from Florence, Tuscany and is spread across 650 acres of rolling hills. Established by a group of friends in the 1970s with government grant assistance, the farm is run according to organic principles. The co-operative produces some of the best pecorino in Tuscany and Il Forteto Cacio di Bosco Tartufo Stagionato is one of the few cheeses that truly captures the real flavour of truffle.
Goes well with: cured meats, grated across risotto or scrambled eggs
Drink options: Pinot Grigio, Sangiovese
G.CRAVERO PARMIGIANO REGGIANO DOP
Moderna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Parmigiano Reggiano DOP is known as the king of Italian cheeses and this particular one has impeccable regional provenance. Each wheel is hand made in the San Pietro Dairy - producer number 2659 - using raw milk from a small herd of less than 100 cows, one of only six wheels of cheese made each day. After meticulous maturation at the dairy for 12 months, the finest cheeses are graded by Giorgio Cravero and taken to Bra, in Piedmont, for ripening, something the Cravero family has been doing since 1855.
In the maturation rooms, careful attention is paid to the challenges of changing conditions – temperature, humidity and so on. After 18-24 months, the 35kg wheels of cheese are then released for sale. This outstanding example has a succulent, moist texture with nutty notes and a complex, fruity sweetness that makes it stand out from the competition.
Goes well with: drizzle some aged balsamic across the cheese, cured meats, slices of crisp pear
Drink options: Prosecco, Sparkling Reds, Shiraz or other full-bodied reds.
*DOP = Denominazione di Origine Protetta (Protected Designation of Origin)
About the Harper & Blohm cheese subscriptions
Our monthly cheese subscription is a carefully selected box of cheese with tasting notes delivered straight to your door. We offer 1, 3, 6, or 12-month subscriptions starting at $95 a month including delivery. Delivery via our refrigerated courier is available across Melbourne & selected areas of regional Victoria.
Orders for our May Cheese Subscription Box close at 5pm Friday 29th April for delivery on Thursday 5th May.
Order your May Subscription here