Casatica, Not Just an On-Time Post

Get our your flying-pig nets, those ones that you have, because they're... well they're flying. The pigs, not the nets... shoot.

This on-time post is brought to you by the magic of Thanksgiving and having a week off of school. 

Also blogger-guilt. 

I'll just come out and say it, today's cheese blew me away. Wild stuff, let me tell you. The story here, stolen from the folks over at Cowgirl, is one that should excite any cheese lover. Brothers Alfio and Bruno Gritti took on their father's creamery with a big old herd of cows and have since moved to an all buffalo line. All buffalo, as in all rich/meaty/bold/creamy/fatty/delicious. Apparently they make 25 different kinds of buffalo milk Italian cheeses so..... only 24 more to go?

Oh, and today's is called Casatica.

Origin: Bergamo, Italy

Milk: Buffalo, pasteurized

Rennet: Animal

Affinage: 4-5 weeks

Notes: Actually, these are the same folks to make the delicious Gran Blu di Bufala, a cheese I've tried and recorded but have yet to blog about... so many cheeses so little time!

Thoughts: If ever there was a surprising cheese, this is it. It looks unassuming enough, plain yellowish paste with some uneven eyes throughout, but one bite and your tastebuds are sent into shock. The smallest square of this cheese gives you the sensation of eating an entire meal, and a hearty one at that. The first course is bread, followed by and dipped in a rich mushroom soup. This cheese is so rich, thanks to that protein and fat strong buffalo milk, that you have to remember you’re eating cheese and not butter. Hints of salt bring out flavors of the local flora, and the final course is the meatiest steak you have ever had, garnished with garlic. This cheese doesn’t so much break down on the palate as it does blitzkrieg it’s way to your tastebuds and set up a forward command center. The rind… well it’s dry an bland and doesn’t add much, but the paste! The pâte! Milky and yet full bodied, bright in the back of the mouth while heavy on the tongue, this is something to be thankful for!

But seriously, I'll spend about 3 hours tonight updating my cheese records. Quick, pity the poor blogger.