Italy’s Best Soft Cheese

 
                                           La Tur is one of Italy's gastronomic treasures

For nearly twenty years I’ve been extolling the virtues of La Tur cheese.   Oui, it has a French sounding name but the cheese is actually made in the foothills of the Italian Alps.   Hailing from the same district as the wines of Barolo and Barbaresco, as well as the highly prized white truffle, La Tur ranks in the same premier gastronomic category as these other super-stars from Italy’s Piedmont area. 

La Tur offers the best of three cheese worlds: goat, sheep and cow.  It seems La Tur combines all the best characteristics of each animal’s milk, creating a delicious product where the sum is greater than the parts.  There is a grassy-citrus tang like a goat cheese.  The sheep’s milk contributes a mild nutty profile.  Finally, there’s the super rich and buttery nuance from the cow’s milk.     

This Italian cheese rock-star  is luscious.   Few cheese have a more succulent and silky texture.  Available in small rounds of about two inches in diameter, this meritage cheese is the perfect size for an autumn dinner for two persons.   Served with a ripe pear, a decadent fuyu persimmon, yummy fall figs, some roasted walnuts and a loaf of artisanal bread I can’t think of a better meal that requires only five minutes of prep time.

Enjoy the fall colors….and La Tur (which is available at most cheese stores, as well as Whole Foods).

Buon appetito!