Where's my robiola?

My local cheese column in the June issue of Grid Magazine focuses on this little bunting of mixed-milk cheese. It's a wonderful local robiola called Hummingbird, which has a bloomy rind and creamy interior at about 3 weeks. 

"You don't see many robiolas in the States," cheesemaker Kristian Holbrook (Doe Run Dairy) told me when I interviewed him for the story. That got me thinking. I've only seen one other artisan robiola that I can recollect, and that was in Iowa. Why don't more cheesemakers produce it?

"I like Robiola Bocina," Holbrook told me, referring to a popular Italian import, "but it's too thick for me. Too pasty. I wanted something with more lactic character that would be good at a young age."

When I wrote my column for Grid, the only Hummingbird I could find was very young -- two weeks old. It was lemony in taste and springy in texture. My friends and I ate it with homemade raspberry jam and nearly passed out from joy on the living room floor. 

A few weeks later, I clammed onto a couple older specimen that were exceedingly ripe (beyond 6 weeks, I'd guess). The downy surface mold had turned wheat-colored, and the center pooled onto the counter when I cut into the rind. Oh, momma! That robiola was strong! Hot and sharp. 

It was interesting to see a cheese change so dramatically after just a few weeks. From lemon sponge to peppery satin. Here is my plea if any cheesemakers are listening: Pssst, make some robiola! It's so dreamy. I fear that once Hummingbird catches on, it'll disappear in a razor-whirr just like the bird.

Hummingbird is produced in Chester County, Pa. at Doe Run Farm, home to 16 cows, 30 sheep, and 19 goats. In Philadelphia, it makes appearances at Di Bruno Bros. in the Italian Market and at the Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal.

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More Hot Bits

Check out the current issue of Culture Magazine for the spread on cheese-related tattoos. You saw a few of them here first, but there are a slew more, alongside new photos of Ezekial Ferguson and Ian Peacock of Di Bruno Bros. 

The Philadelphia Cheese Experiment takes place on June 5 at World Cafe Live. It's part of Brooklyn Brewery's national tour of food experiments, where amateurs compete for prizes...like a free trip to the brewery. There's still time to sign up or get tickets to attend. I hope somebody makes a goat cheese brownie to blow my mind.

Cheesemonger Interview: Ian Peacock

*This post is part of a series I write as a paid guest-blogger for Di Bruno Bros.

Years at Di Bruno Bros.: 4

Hometown: Metuchen, New Jersey

How he got into cheese: I’m a carpenter by trade, but I’ve always sidelined in food -- I’ve worked as a fishmonger, a bartender. In early 2007, I walked into Di Bruno Bros. one day, and I haven’t left since. I like that there’s a vast amount of knowledge to master, kind of like working in historic restoration.

Cheese of the Moment: I’m really digging Marco Polo. It’s hard to find really well-made, delicious cheeses that have stuff in them. Marco Polo has green and black Madagascar peppercorns in Beecher’s cheddar. Otherwise, Fiore Sardo, is my favorite. That’s the one I have tattooed on my chest.

To read on, please visit the Di Bruno blog.

Mimolette: The Great Pumpkin of Cheese

At Di Bruno Bros, Zeke Ferguson with Mimolette

I’ve on been on an orange cheese kick this month – I’ll take my autumn where I can. I like the sunny color, I admit, and with Halloween around the corner, I’m hunting for that perfect cheese to nibble on the stoop while the ghouls of the neighborhood troll for candy. Let them have their Milky Way, I want my Mimolette.

Mimolette comes in a nubby, spherical wheel, and when you cut it in half, it often reveals facial markings. Kidding. Cheesemonger Zeke Ferguson did the honors on this one, while we discussed his cheese-related tattoos.

Zeke Ferguson shows some leg

Carve it, and serve it, I say. Mimolette, that is. At 6 months, this cheese is mild and sweet with a toasty finish. Try it with Tamari-roasted pumpkin seeds and a nut brown ale or a Belgian Saison. If you come across some aged Mimolette with intense butterscotch notes, pour some Calvados, then stoke a fire and lay out the sheepskin rugs.

Mimolette is a French cheese from Normandy with roots in the Netherlands, where Gouda and Edam are produced. The tangerine hue comes from Annatto, a plant dye that is also used to color Sparkenhoe Red Leicester. The slightly peppery taste of Annatto gives Mimolette a hint of smokiness – think of paprika. You can taste a little fire, but there’s nothing sharp or spicy. Even your trick-or-treaters could learn to like it.

Here it is, unadorned, with some apples. Also nice. This is a good cheese for those with a delicate palate. Personally, I like a cheese that's more stubborn. But then, I am trying, I really am, to recognize those subtle notes, to love the un-ghoulish ones. And mild'n smoky Mimolette is a good place to start.

Zeke Ferguson: Cheesemonger Illustrated

Hometown: Harveys Lake, Pa.

Years at Di Bruno Bros.: 7

Number of cheese tattoos: Two currently – a Parmigiano stiletto and a label from Montgomery’s Cheddar.   

Fave cheese of the moment: Renata. It’s probably the coolest cheese in the shop right now. Renata is actually a Brown Swiss cow, one of three that cheesemaker Sally Jackson milks at her farm in Oroville, Washington...

To read on, click here.

Full disclosure: This post is part of a series I'm writing for Di Bruno Bros., one of my fave cheese haunts in Philly. The deal is, I get paid to guest-blog on the store's site (dibruno.blogspot.com) on Wednesdays. Woo hoo!