“I didn’t know which type you wanted, so I bought both,” is a wonderful sentence. Vincenzo put two neat, white packets on the counter, along with the bread, crackers and strawberry yoghurt. I love opening cheese – especially blue cheese, the bellowing scent rushing up your nose, fantastic and intrusive. The gorgonzola dolce had stuck to the paper, so it needed to be tasted. The gorgonzola piccante was a celebration of ageing and veins. The dog went nuts.
To make gorgonzola, full fat, pasteurized cow’s milk is heated with rennet. Gorgonzola also requires the addition of lactic ferments, yeast and most importantly, penicillium roqueforti – microscopic mould spores. The heat causes coagulation and the milk separates into whey (which drains away) and curds, which are cut and pressed into cylinders.
