Taste of the Week. Toons Bridge Cacio Cavallo

Taste of the Week

Toons Bridge Cacio Cavallo

In the Big Shed during LitFest16, I met Toby of Toonsbridge Dairy with two big rounds of cheese over his shoulder, one to the front, one to the rear. “I’m like the horse,” he joked. And, having read a piece on their website a few days earlier, I knew that he was talking about his Cacio Cavallo, now our current Taste of the Week.

It is a cow's milk cheese, made in Toons Bridge by their Italian cheesemaker Franco.  Translated it means "horse cheese", as it is traditionally tied in pairs and transported to market by pack horse. No horse in the Big Shed at Ballymaloe so Toby took over! That’s what stallholders do.

Cacio Cavallo is the cheese of Southern Italy. It is, like mozzarella and scamorza, made from raw milk with the addition of whey starters. It is ripened and, when ready after some hours, stretched in boiling water.

We bought a big slice - it is cut on the length from the five or six kilo round - and enjoyed every bit. Cracks appeared on the paste and it comes away in soft slivers, beautiful and creamy. You’ll read that the Piccante version - one of  our Toons Bridge versions - has a spicy background but it is quite mild.

Must try the Dulce version, as it looks very much like the Spanish Tetella.

Toons Bridge Dairy

Toons Bridge Macroom Co Cork

Contact:

087 3457790 (texts work as well)

or by email toonsbridgeshop@therealoliveco.com

Toons Bridge cheeses at Ballymaloe Litfest16