toscano
november cheese of the month
Monforte’s Toscano is aboutcheese.ca’s first cheese of the month because we believe that this is a cheese and a cheese company that really deserves a shout out.
First, a little history. Ruth Klahsen is the indomitable cheesemaker. She has a history of being inventive with her cheeses, and over the past few years has created more cheeses than almost any other cheesemaker we know. Then her lease was up on her cheesemaking location and the rent rose and exhausting all other options, she could find no other place to move her cheesemaking business. The last cheeses rolled out the door in December 2008. Did that stop Ruth? No way! She invented a new model to finance her cheese factory. With the help of a food loving N.Y. banker, she introduced the Renaissance Monforte 2010 Community Shared Agriculture (CSA). In the CSA model, consumers invest money up front (easing financing costs for the producer) and in exchange, receive a portion of the produced goods. In 2009, the funds and plans moved along on track and by late summer, Ruth borrowed some space from another cheesemaker and began to produce Toscano again. Currently, she has secured a building and is working on fitting out the interior.
Ruth believes in seasonal milking, from spring to late fall, a natural cycle and one that allows both the animals and farmers a chance to rest. Cheese production in the new plant is meant to begin next February after the babies are born and the milk is flowing again. Did we mention that Ruth is inventive? Rumour has it that she is planning on using goat, sheep, water buffalo and horse milk for cheeses in 2010.
We would like to salute Ruth and support Monforte by featuring this cheese. If you would like to support
Renaissance Monforte 2010 follow this link to learn more about the CSA. Shares begin at $200 and you will receive $50 of delicious cheese yearly for five years.
Toscano is a cooked and pressed sheep milk curd cheese, styled after Italian pecorinos inside, and after the famous French cow's milk cheese Tomme de Savoie for the rind. It is a natural rind cheese requiring two brushings per week, under the extremely watchful eye of Ruth Klahsen’s team.
Its edible rind is taupe in colour and has a pleasant musty nose, not unlike an ancient wine cellar. It is bold and slightly sharp in flavour, with a pleasant saltiness that makes you always want another piece. The sheep milk for Toscano comes from Mennonite farmers, and is inspired by Italian Pecorinos. The cheese is bold and flavourful, aging well over many months. Enjoy with olive oil and vegetables, or grated over pasta and rice dishes.
Sommelier Jamie Drummond recommends: One would usually pair this wine with a Sangiovese-based Tuscan red wine. However, I have had great success with white wines utilizing Vermentino, Arneis and Verdicchio. Whoops, there I go with obscure grape varieties again!
