Wine. Oil. Cheese. These products make up the trinity of Rome’s most notable gastronomical delights. This past Friday evening, prior to a night at the symphony, the Cornell in Rome gathered for a night of delicious tasting lead by professional oil taster, Robert Bigollo.
As the table of cheese selection taunted us, one by one, small cups of oil were served. There were three different kinds; an oil of the current season, an oil of last year’s season, and a low quality oil commonly found at your local supermarket. After proper instruction of how to taste oil (warming the oil in our hands, letting the oil sit on your tongue for the appropriate time, ect.), telling the oils apart was easy.
After our oil shots, smiles grew broad across faces as cheese slices were cut and cups of wine were poured. The variety was extensive with cheeses aged four days before to cheese aged two years before. We ate with our fingers the “proper” way and worked through five different varieties of cheese, Pecorina and Robiola di Capra to name a few. All the cheese were unpasteurized and beautifully rich in flavor.
Overall, the night was filled with laughs yummy treats
“I’m not really a cheese person, but this is some good cheese!”-Will Smith, BFA ’19
Photo credit/ Ihwa Choi