Formaggio La Tur -  A Trio of Milks

I love goat cheese but I also enjoy cow and sheep’s milk cheese and now I can have them all in this meritage of cheese called La Tur. This Italian cheese from the Piedmont area was suggested to me by from my friend Jack who owns the cheese market at our local farmer’s market.

Looking for something spreadable on a French baguette for breakfast but a little stinky, Jack offered up this buttery, bloomy rind little cupcake of a cheese and it was everything I was looking for. It has a creamy consistency with a little bit of tang. You must let this cheese warm up to room temperature before consuming or you will loose all the flavor.

In Short

Type:  Equal parts cow, goat and sheep milk
Origin:  Alta Langa, Piedmont, Italy
Process:  Barely ripened (10 days to two weeks)
Texture:  soft and runny near the rind, almost fluffy/mousse like towards the center
Shape:  Short cylinder—3”x1½”
Weight: 8 ounces
Color:  pale cream to straw-colored
Rind:  Thin and white, wrinkling as it ages.  It can have a thin coat of white mold.
Flavor:  well-rounded, mellow, grassy with a hint of mushroom

The Rest of the Story

One of the most important decisions the cheese makers made regarding La Tur was to pasteurize the milk at the lowest possible temperature allowed by Italian law.  This means that the enzymes present in the milk are not all killed off during the pasteurization process, and it’s the enzymes that contribute to the final flavor profile of the cheese.  While many young, soft cheeses are very mild in flavor, La Tur tends to be pretty complex, definitely something cheese connoisseurs appreciate.

The three milks—cow, goat and sheep—are mixed in equal parts, and the resulting mixed curds are packed into small molds and then allowed to age for ten days.  No one flavor profile dominates.  You can taste the buttery richness from the cow milk, the tang of the goat milk and the mellow nuttiness of the sheep milk.  The three milks complement each other nicely, and this is another reason that La Tur has a relatively complex flavor for a young, soft cheese.

Due to the light mold that grows on the rind of the cheese, it ripens from the outside in.  In a cheese ten days old, the cheese is creamy inside the rind and fluffy towards the center.  As the cheese ages, the outside layer becomes runnier and more pungent while the center becomes creamy.  Eventually, the cheese is runny throughout.  To experience the progression for yourself, buy three small, fresh wheels (they’re cute—they come in pleated doilies that look like cupcake papers).  Enjoy one immediately.  Save one for two or three weeks later, and then eat the last one a few weeks afterwards.

As with most cheese, La Tur is best served at cool room temperature to appreciate the flavor.  You can certainly serve it with a nice un-oaked red from the Piedmont region of Italy, although the tang of the cheese is nicely set off by sweeter dessert wines as well.  Simply spread the cheese on some crusty bread, or if you want to gild the lily, serve with some clover honey, roasted pears or quince jam.

RELATED TOPICS

All About Cheese

Cheese Guide

Conversation with Cheesemonger Jack

Parmigiano-Reggiano Alternatives

I’m sure you have all heard the phrase, “champagne taste on a beer budget.”  The underlying message is that, to get the good stuff, you have to pay big bucks.  This is especially true with some of the world’s top cheeses.

If you are watching your budget, there are a couple of ways to cater to your champagne tastes and still stick to a beer budget.  One way is to find products similar to the big-ticket items you are interested in that may not be as flavorful as the original, but for the cost, a good substitute. Oftentimes, these lesser-known products are quite good, and you can realize substantial savings at the check out line.

For instance, Parmigiano-Reggiano is the gold standard of Parmesan cheese. Everyone has heard the name, and, at $22/pound, this it is certainly a big ticket item.  Only cheeses made in a designated area of Italy, including Parma and Reggio Emilia, can bear the Parmigiano-Reggiano name.

This doesn’t mean that cheese made in the same style is inferior to Parmigiano-Reggiano.  It just means that that cheese was not made in the designated area by the designated consortium of cheese makers.  There are very fine examples of widely available Parmesan hard Italian cheese on the market.

Parmigiano-Reggiano Alternatives

For example, I recently sampled two Parmesan cheeses, one from Argentina and the other from Wisconsin that were much less expensive than Parmigiano Reggiano and were very good. Do they match up with the Italian original? No, but depending what you are using them for and how much you can afford, they are a great alternative.

Regginito is from Argentina and can be tangy to sharp depending on the age. It goes for about $10 per pound at my cheese market and is great for grating and cooking with. I found it delightful just to eat by itself and would serve this on a cheese board at a party. At half the price of imported Parmigiano Reggiano, I’m thinking this is a good buy.

The domestic Parmesan from Wisconsin is called SarVecchio and is comparable to Asiago, an Italian cheese that has a similar flavor to Parmesan. SarVecchio Parmesan is aged at least 20 months and is also great for grating. At about $8 bucks a pound at my market, this is another good alternative.

Grana

Parmigian-Reggiano is considered  a grana type cheese because it is a hard, mature Italian cheese with a granular texture but when I think of Grana, I think of Grana Padano. The main difference between these two cheeses is the diet of the cows that produce the milk that goes into making each cheese. The Grana cheese is also usually younger.

There are other distinctions but many more similarities and I will do a post on each cheese separately one day to spell them out. For now let’s just say the Grana Padano is an excellent substitute for the most well know Parmigiano Reggiano and although not as inexpensive as the Regginito or SarVecchio, it is less expensive than the Reggiano.

When Should I Splurge?

Another way to economize without sacrificing taste is in deciding for yourself what ingredients you consider “splurge-worthy” and which ones are not.  While some people wouldn’t be caught dead using the Parmesan cheese out of the green can, others justify it because they are using other quality ingredients.

I’m not a big fan of Parmesan cheese in a can but I have lots of friends whose kids will only eat cheese from a stick (string cheese) and the Green can. We never had the Green can parmesan in the house so my kids only know Grana cheeses.

Saying that, if you make a risotto using homemade stock and high quality saffron, you might be able to use a bit of green can Parmesan for finishing but I would still prefer one of the lesser expensive Parmesans that I can grate myself.  Remember, all cheeses start to loose some of their flavor after they are grated and sit in your refrigerator.

Now on the other hand, if you are making a dish in which Parmesan is a featured ingredient, such as Caesar Salad with shaved Parmesan, sprinkling on some canned Parm will probably not work for you.  Every cook has to decide what his/her “money ingredients” are.  Which ingredients they are willing to pay a premium on and which they are willing to economize on.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are no hard and fast rules here.  While some cooks will gladly pay premium prices for everything from finishing salts to flavored oils to caviar, others may choose to economize in one area or another.

For some people, a couple of shavings of real Parmigiano-Reggiano can elevate spaghetti made with a jarred sauce.  For others, a sprinkle from the green can might enhance a homemade sauce.   Cook for your own and your family’s palate and budget.  With the wealth of ingredients available to us, there is a way to make every meal special, no matter what your budget.

Other ingredients that you should be able to find a lower cost, similar version of include caviar and other roe, wines and sparkling wines, vanilla, saffron and truffles. We can look at them in future posts too.

Related Topics

All About Cheese

Some of My Favorite Cheeses

Conversation with Cheesemonger Jack

Petit Basque (P’tit Basque)

Most visits to our local Ardmore Farmer’s Market, I stop by Cheeseman Jack’s booth to talk about cheese, learn by tasting some cheese I’ve never had before and purchasing some to bring home to my wife and family. Recently I had the opportunity to try Petit Basque, a wonderful sheep’s milk cheese that is mild enough even for my kids.

Petit Basque is an unpasteurized, uncooked hard sheep’s milk cheese produced in the Pyrenees Mountains, the mountains that form the border between France and Spain

In Short

• Type:  Sheep milk
• Origin:  Pyrenees Mountains, France
• Process:  brined and ripened 70 days
• Texture:  smooth and firm
• Shape:  Cylindrical, weighing approximately 1.25 pounds
• Color:  Butter yellow
• Rind:  Thin and covered with thin plastic to prevent mold
• Flavor:  Mild, nutty and slightly fruity

The Rest of the Story

A lot of the great cheeses of the world have been around for hundreds of years.  Interestingly, although Petit Basque (sometimes spelled P’tit Basque) is made using traditional methods, it is a new cheese, having first been produced in 1997 by the large French dairy corporation Lactalis.  If you think you’ve never heard of Lactalis, think again.  Ever heard of Sorrento, President or Rondele cheese brands?  All of these brands are under the Lactalis umbrella.

So, why this new sheep milk cheese when there are plenty of well known sheep milk cheeses on the market (Spanish Manchego comes to mind immediately)?  Often, sheep milk cheese is a bit of an acquired taste.  It can be quite assertively “sheepy.”  Lactalis most likely wanted to produce a more accessible sheep milk cheese, one that would appeal to a broader segment of the American market—almost half of the Petit Basque produced is marketed in the United States.

A Little History

Petit Basque is made in the Pyrenees Mountains using the same techniques that local shepherds used hundreds of years ago. This “fromage de brebis” or sheep cheese was made from pure sheep’s milk the farmers put aside while milking their ewes. Two other famous sheep’s milk cheeses from the area are Ossau Iraty and Idiazabal.

Some Facts

Petit Basque is comprised of 45% fat and has a rich, buttery yellow color.  The cheese is made from curds from uncooked, unpasteurized ewe’s milk.  Once pressed into molds and dried, it is brined for two hours and then cold aged for 70 days before being either waxed or covered in thin plastic to prevent mold. The small cylindrical shaped cheese each weigh about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds.

What To Expect

When you look at the exterior of Petit Basque you will notice it is has a light yellow butter color appearance that is smooth and slightly oily. When you cut open a wheel of Petit Basque, you will notice that the interior is very smooth with no “eyes” (think Swiss cheese).  The aroma is slightly nutty with some caramel notes.  Biting into the cheese, some have described it as having a smooth taffy-like feel in the mouth.

What to Serve With

Since Petit Basque is a relatively mild sheep milk cheese, it is a good one to start with if you are unfamiliar with sheep milk cheeses.  The flavor is mildly “sheepy,” nutty and somewhat fruity.  It would be lovely on a fruit and cheese platter, especially with stone fruit such as peaches, apricots or even cherries.  It can also be served on some French bread with ham and tomato or on serving board with cured meats, olives and pâté.

I typically serve cheese with whatever wine I’m drinking but I have read Petit Basque goes well with most red wines including Beajolais, Merlot and Viogner.

Where To Find Petit Basque

Try your local supermarket or cheese shop and I think I’ve seen it at Costco too.

Related Pages

All About Cheese

Types of Cheeses