MORE CHEESE

Today as I was walking out the front door a car was backing UP the street. It backed into the area in front of our door and the woman inside asked me a question. I didn’t hear what she said, so I moved closer.

I still couldn’t figure out what she was asking or telling me. Something about cheese…about buying cheese, but what? Did she want to know where to buy it? She pointed down the street, and I thought, “Where’s she pointing? We don’t have a cheese shop in San Venanzo.”

Just about that time Art appeared, and told me that he knew what they wanted….the couple in the car was looking for the Farnesi’s, our neighbors. The people in the car, a man and a woman, had a car filled with cheese, sausage and wine for sale! A feast on wheels, and it was right at our doorstep! And people ask why we love Italy so much!

Iris (our neighbor) walked up and began discussing the types of cheese with the man. They had a ‘medium’ pecorino…not ‘fresco’ (fresh and therefore soft) and not ‘stagionata’ (aged and hard), but a nice medium pecorino, hard enough to grate but not as hard as parmesan.

They also had a mixed pecorino using part sheep’s milk and part cow’s milk. This is the cheese Iris chose, I think because it was lower in cholesterol, but of course I can’t be sure of that.

We all had a taste of the medium pecorino and Art and I decided to buy one of the small rounds. It weighed just over 2 kilograms (over 5 pounds) and cost about €28. The taste was wonderful….mild and creamy, yet it still had the ‘bite’ of pecorino.
I was afraid that this would be too much cheese for the two of us, but the man assured me that all I had to do was wrap it in paper and store it in the refrigerator. He told me that it would last for up to two years, not that it will be around our house for anywhere near that length of time.  The bottom of the cheese had the ingredients listed, which may be standard, but since I don’t normally buy a full wheel of cheese I don’t know for sure.


The man left his card in case we wanted to order more. He also told us they have a restaurant over near Orvieto, on the road that goes along Lake Corbara. They serve pizza and other foods on the weekends, or maybe on Sunday only……