the cheese blog

Fior Di Primavera

It took a while of hunting on the Internet, using some hints on the label to identify this second Italian cheese I picked up at Eataly. This Italian cheese is a “pecorino affinato nel fieno,” translated means Pecorino aged in hay, made by Caseificio il Fiorino in the Tuscany region. It appears to be some type of Pecorino stagionato, or aged Pecorino, style cheese, therefore I assume it is made from ewes milk.

The rind is very rustic, with an odd assortment of grey, beige, red, and green colors. It has a hard, flaky interior that varies from off-white to butterscotch near the rind. The aroma is earthy and funky. The taste was quite odd though. I really couldn’t place the flavors, other than very earthy and salty, but there was some permeating funkiness I couldn’t get past. I guess the aging in hay contributes the earthiness and being a Pecorino-style is why it’s so salty. Where the other odd flavors came from, I have no idea.

I’m always up for a challenging cheese, but this cheese just didn’t do it for me. Maybe there are some alternative uses it that I’m missing (grated perhaps), so if anyone has suggestions or comments, I would love to hear them.