I am more than a cheese fanatic; I am a cheese fiend. Well, that may be a tad over-drammatico, but I certainly couldn’t live without it. I have cheese with almost every meal! And, daresay I find myself wandering into a store with cheese samples… I am a nightmare. In my personal, blissful heaven, I must try everything twice, maybe even thrice if someone turns a blind eye. So, when we were told in January that we’d be having a cheese and olive oil tasting in April, I circled that date and haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
On Friday, the day arrived. Giddy with anticipation, I arrived at the scene – a beautiful array of pungent, evocative cheeses, splendid rows of luminescent olive oil in little tasting cups, and piles of fresh, doughy bread and focaccia sprawled before my eyes. As I gawked over the incredible site, Anna Rita approached me with a giant, egg-like sphere of partially-cut Provolone and, to my delight, stuck it in my face and told me to “smell it!” My goodness, that smell. Not only did it fill my nose, but it seemed to engulf my entire head with an aroma that was strong and immense, yet genial and buttery.
Because suspense (or suffering, depending on how much you love cheese) is good for the soul, we began the tasting with olive oil. We were led by Roberto Bigollo, an authorized Oil Taster and ONAF Taster (National Organization of Cheese Tasters, otherwise known as an organization I must join). He presented us with two different oils we would be trying. But before we could palate Azienda Agricola Parovel, we had to learn the correct tasting technique:
To properly taste olive oil, one must begin by warming it up in one’s hands. After a couple minutes, in dives the nose – a huge, gusty inhale to smell all the components. Finally, one must sip a small amount under one’s tongue, and then inhale through closed teeth in order to break down the particles to taste all the flavors. What did this look like, you may ask? A chaotic roomful of clenched-teeth slurping and hissing! It was difficult to taste without laughing.
In fact, I found olive oil difficult to taste in general. The flavors are extremely subtle and I couldn’t personally deduce “green chicory” or “walnut husk,” but evidently, they were there! The next oil was just as glorious, with “pleasing hints of green almond.” We learned that the best quality olive oils have a spicy, bitter aftertaste.
Finally, it was time for cheese. My toes tapped the floor in excitement. Roberto started us off with a Stracchino di Vedeseta and the Provolone del Monaco that I had heartily sniffed earlier. With every bite, I melted. These formaggi were like none I’d ever tasted. The Provolone was so inexplicably delicious and buttery that I had a “I can die right now and have pursued happiness” moment as I chewed.
The Conciato di San Vittore was perhaps the most unique cheese of them all. Made from sheep’s milk, it is rolled in a bounty of ambrosial herbs, including wild thyme, coriander, juniper, rosemary, and wild fennel. At first taste, my brain shouted, “Christmas!” because it’s so powerfully herby. Some people found it overwhelming, but I loved the intensity.
We also tried a Monte Veronese D’Allevo, a cheese that recalls butter and hazelnuts, and a Gialloblù, which is intensely yellow due to the presence of saffron. By the end of the two hours, I was full, utterly content, and considering a new cheese-tasting career… Just kidding!
Sabine