Hard Cheese - Firm Cheese

Italian Cheese Fontina Val d'Aosta 1 lb.

Fontina Val d'Aosta - cow's raw milk fondue cheese, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, Italy.

Firm, thin, dark yellow or reddish-brown in color.

Genuine Italian Fontina comes only from the Val d'Aosta mountains near the Swiss border.
Made from unpastuerized raw milk, it is a pressed, cooked medium-ripened hard cheese with a delicate, nutty, almost honeyed flavor, somewhat like a Swiss Gruyere but more buttery and sweeter. Great in fondues.
Taste: A delicate nuttiness with a hint of mild honey. When melted, the flavor is earthy, with a suggestion of mushrooms and a fresh acidity.
Appropriate wines: Friuli Merlo... more »

• SKU: 120505
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Spanish Sheep Cheese Manchego El Trigal 1 lb.

Manchego El Trigal - aged 6 months, sheep's milk hard cheese, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, Spain.

Manchego is Spain’s most popular sheep's milk cheese. The sheep come from the plains of La Mancha, the home of the famous Don Quixote. The area is extremely hot and the sheep graze on dry pastures and grain stubble fields. When it comes time to mature, like many other Spanish cheeses, Manchego is smeared with olive oil. It has a very potent, nutty flavor that is unforgettable. The amount of time this cheese matures varies.
Appropriate wines: Rioja Alta, Penedes, young cabernet. You can also try with a beer.

Fat in Cheese: 55%.

• SKU: 121120
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Italian Cheese Cacciocavallo Silano DOP 1 lb.

Caciocavallo Silano - cow's milk hard cheese DOP, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, Italy.

This elite Italian DOP cheese is firm and stringy, made from cow milk. The traditional technique involves hanging the molds astride horizontal rods, which leaves characteristic grooves on the cheese's rind. It delivers a smooth, mild salty taste, and is excellent for pasta dishes.
This specialty hails from the Southern Italian provinces of Abbruzo, Calabria, Campania and Sicilia.
Caciocavallo is a traditional pasta filata (stretched curd) cheese made from cow's milk. Other pasta filata type cheeses are Mozzarella and Provolone.
Cac... more »

• SKU: 121364
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Swiss Cheese Emmentaler 1 lb.

Emmentaler - cow's milk hard cheese, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, Switzerland.

Emmentaler is a hard, pale yellow Swiss cheese. It has a sweet smell, with a fruity taste and delicate aroma. The most prominent feature of Emmentaler is the walnut-sized holes it contains. Emmentaler is probably the origin of the sterotypical holey cheese image.
Cheese is originally from Emmental in the Swiss canton of Bern.

Uses: Table cheese, grilling, fondue.
In Switzerland Emmentaler is combined with Gruyere and Swiss white wine to make fondues. A glass of the same white wine forms a perfect complement.

When serve... more »

• SKU: 120802
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Italian Cheese Grana Padano DOP 1 lb.

Grana Padano Parmesan - cow's milk hard cheese DOP, cooked, aged 18 months, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, Italy.

Grana Padano is classified as a DOP cheese meaning it is one of the elite cheeses in Italy. It has a tangy, fruity flavor.

• SKU: 121325
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Italian Sheep Cheese Fiore Sardo 1 lb.

Fiore Sardo wheel - sheep's milk hard cheese, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, Italy.

Sheep are very important to Sardinia, the island north of Sicily off the Italian coast. The landscape there is dotted with sheep everywhere you look. The sheep found on Sardinia are from ancient stock and live in the wild. Fiore Sardo is a straw-colored cheese with a brown rind. The Italian word Fiore means Flower. Thus this cheese is named the "Flower of Sardinia." A bit more forceful than Pecorino Toscano, a famous sheep's milk cheese from Tuscany, this Sardinian pecorino has a slightly salty flavor and a long finish. The Pecorino cheese is hard and grainy ... more »

• SKU: 121401
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French Cheese Emmental Francais 1 lb.

Emmental Francais - cow's milk hard cheese, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, France.

Emmental is a hard, pale yellow Swiss cheese. It has a sweet smell, with a fruity taste and delicate aroma. The most prominent feature of Emmental is the walnut-sized holes it contains. Emmental is probably the origin of the sterotypical holey cheese image.

Uses: Table cheese, grilling, fondue.

Emmental is combined with Gruyere and Swiss white wine to make fondues. A glass of the same white wine forms a perfect complement.

When served on the table, a crisp dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Shiraz, is prefer... more »

• SKU: 120042
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Italian Cheese Piave 1 lb.

Piave - cow’s milk hard cheese, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, Italy.

Italy’s Veneto region is the home of this exemplary table cheese. Extra-aged, it boasts naturally occurring amino acid "flavor crystals" in the smooth, firm, straw-colored pâte. It’s a zinger, full of tangy sweetness and the taste of almonds; the finish is a burst of pineapple and citrus.

• SKU: 121402
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Italian Sheep Cheese Pecorino Romano 9-12 oz.

Pecorino Romano - Genuine Fulvi - sheep's milk hard cheese - 9-12 oz/256-342 gr, Italy.

Pecora in Italian means sheep and Pecorino Romano is one of Italy's oldest cheeses. Today most Pecorino cheese is made in Sardina, Italy. This slightly spicy, sharp, tangy sheep cheese gets increasingly robust with age.

Compliments: Try Pecorino Romano with homemade bread, fresh fava beans and wine. Try whittling off shavings and enjoying with salami. It is also a treat with ripe pears and honey.

Appropriate Wines: Dry but rich reds, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah/Shiraz, Merlot, Zinfandel.

Great for Italian food gifts.

• SKU: 121344
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French Cheese Abondance Fermier AOC 1 lb.

Abondance Fermier - cow's milk cooked, pressed hard AOC, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, France.

The name of this cheese comes from the breed of cows (abondance) from which milk is taken on the Swiss border, in Avignon. The blue label fixed on the rind indicates that the cheese is a member of the AOC family since 1990.

Texture: The texture of the ivory/yellow pate is supple and velvety. Its rind is smooth with an amber color showing canvas marks.

Taste: Its taste is direct, but at the same time subtle; a complex alliance between a slightly acidic and soft initial taste followed by a lingering after taste. The c... more »

• SKU: 121522
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Italian Cheese Parmigiano Reggiano 9 lb.

Parmigiano Reggiano - cow's milk hard cheese - aged 20 months - 9 lb/4 kg, Italy.

Italian Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is a prestigious cheese, unique for its inimitable quality originating eight centuries ago in the area between Parma and Reggio Emilia. It contains a concentration of highly nutritious substances. Seven quarts of milk are needed to make each pound of cheese. Slow, natural aging produces an unparalleled taste, easy digestion and substantial nourishment.
Compliments: This cheese goes well as an addition to soups, salads, pasta dishes and veal/chicken.
Appropriate wines: Strong Merlot from Napa or Tokay from Hungria.

Actual items may differ slightly from pictures shown.

• SKU: 121346
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Italian Goat Cheese Capra Valtellina 1 lb.

Capra Valtellina wheel - goat's milk hard cheese, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, Italy.

High in the mountains dividing Italy from Switzerland lie shepherds who have been herding goats and making cheese for centuries. Most of the goat's milk is available throughout the spring, but cheese is produced in small quantities throughout the year. Capra Valtellina is a 4-6 month aged cheese which is flavorful and complex.

• SKU: 121407
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Spanish Cheese San Simon 1 lb.

San Simon - cow's milk smoked hard cheese, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, Spain.

Surrounded in the west and north by the Atlantic Ocean and mountains from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, Galicia has always been a remote region of Spain. This isolation fostered an ancient cheese culture. Here the Galacia cows graze on the lush green pastures and bear milk that its people have been making into cheese for generations in the town of Villalba.

San Simon is aged 2-4 weeks, lightly pressed and then gently smoked for 2 weeks after leaving the mold. Inside its red, polished brown rind, San Simon has a creamy, buttery, smoky flavor ... more »

• SKU: 121131
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Spanish Goat Cheese Garrotxa 1 lb.

Garrotxa - goat's milk hard cheese, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, Spain.

This goat’s milk cheese was once produced solely in the Garrotxa area of Catalonia. This is the area of the Pyrenees region of Spain that is furthest to the East, lying right on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

Spanish Garrotxa cheese has a white interior with a very creamy texture that is surrounded by a natural mold rind. It has an unusual but mild flavor with a light acidity and a hint of hazelnuts. It melts very smoothly, but we like to eat it out of hand. It is sure to become a new Spanish favorite.
Apropriate wines: Garrotxa is deliciou... more »

• SKU: 121136
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Italian Cheese Grana Padano DOP 11 lb.

Grana Padano Parmesan - cow's milk hard cheese DOP, cooked - aged 18 months - 9 lb/4 kg, Italy.

Grana Padano is classified as a DOP cheese meaning it is one of the elite cheeses in Italy. It has a tangy, fruity flavor.

• SKU: 121326
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Italian Cheese Parmesan Parmigiano Reggiano DOP 18-21 lb.

Parmesan Parmigiano Reggiano - cow's milk hard cheese - 18-21 lb/8.2-9.5 kg, Italy.

Parmigiano Reggiano is a prestigious cheese, unique for its inimitable quality originated eight centuries ago in the area between Parma and Reggio Emilia. It contains a concentration of highly nutritious substances. Seven quarts of milk are needed to make each pound of cheese. Slow, natural aging produces an unparalelled taste, easy digestion and substanzial nourishment.

Appropriate wines: Powerful merlot from Napa or Tokay from Hungria.

Compliments: This cheese goes well as an addition to soups, salads, pasta dishes and veal/chicken.

• SKU: 121345
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Italian Sheep Cheese Pecorino Ginepro 1 lb.

Pecorino Ginepro wheel - sheep's milk hard cheese, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, Italy.

An unusual and arresting cheese made of raw sheep milk. Each 6 pound wheel of Pecorino Ginepro is soaked in an aromatic bath of balsamic vinegar and juniper before it is aged for a minimum of four months. The dark brown rind is created by the vinegar, though the lingering finish is kissed with gin-juniper rather than acerbic acid. Wrapped in paper, which contains moisture, the Pecorino cheese is always moldy, and benefits from a few hours 'breathing'.

• SKU: 121358
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Italian Sheep Cheese Pecorino Toscano Stagionato DOP 1 lb.

Pecorino Toscano Stagionato DOP - sheep's milk hard cheese, cut cheese - 1 lb/454 gr, Italy.

This traditional Italian Pecorino Toscano is firm and dense in texture with complex nutty flavor. Unlike our other Pecorino's, this one is not aged. Pecorino Toscano is a young 100% sheep cheese, only about 40 days old when it arrives on our shores. Because it is a young cheese it is somewhat discreet, almost shy. As the cheese first hits your tongue, you detect a hint of Tuscan herbs, grass and wildflowers. The aftertaste it leaves on your palate is a wonderfully complex flavor that is hard to describe but easy to enjoy.
Appropriate win... more »

• SKU: 121321
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Italian Sheep Cheese Ricotta Marzolina 1 lb.

Ricotta Marzolina - sheep's milk hard cheese cone - 1 lb/454 gr, Italy.

A hard sheep's milk cheese from Southern Italy. It is excellent for cooking and salad tossing, or even for grating. Individual serving sizes come in the shape of yellowish cones. A very pleasantly-flavored, rather sweet and rich taste, but not pungent.

• SKU: 121360
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Swiss Cheese Gruyere 1 lb.

Gruyere - cow's milk hard cheese, cut cheese - 16 oz/454 gr, Switzerland.

Gruyere is a buttery and toasty-flavored cheese. It is hard with a firm, yet pliable texture. The texture is dense and compact, yet flexible. It is this density that makes it stronger and less stringy than Emmental when heated, so it is better for grating, grilling and in soups.

When Gruyere cheese is first cut, the aroma suggests a million meadow flowers trapped in rich, creamy milk. Sligtly grainy, the cheese has a wonderful complexity of flavors – at first fruity, then revealing a more earthy, nutty characteristic that lingers on the palate.
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• SKU: 120801
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