Toma Piemontese, DOP

Toma Piemontese boasts being one of Italy’s oldest known cheeses, dating back to Roman times, and while the Toma-style cheeses are still prevalent throughout northern Italy, the Piemontese version became the first to receive a D.O.P. designation in 1996. Piedmont (Piemonte in Italian) is indeed a culinary-rich region, and its geography and climate are well suited to produce world-class cheeses. The Toma Piemontese you will have the opportunity to enjoy this month is from the province of Biella and made with milk from two consecutive milkings, contributing to its rich and pliable texture. It is then aged for five months on white pine boards.

Toma Piemontese is a semi-firm, cow’s milk cheese. Upon opening the wheel, its paste is a rich, buttery-yellow hue. Its aroma and flavor profile are mild, fragrant, and earthy, reminding one of the pasture’s clean soils and grasses. Cows from this region are grazing at a pretty high altitude when they produce the milk to make this cheese, and that terroir presents itself prominently in this Toma. However, it is not an overly sweet tasting cheese. The flavors lean more towards earthy, vegetal, and woodsy notes which become more pronounced with age. We recommend this as a melting cheese for pasta, polenta, risotto, sandwiches, and sauces. Toma will pair well with Italian wines from the Piedmont. We recommend the region’s nebbiolo-based Barbaresco and Barolo, Barbera d’Asti and d’Alba, and dolcetto-based wines like Dogliani, Dolcetto di Ovada Superiore, and Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba. If you’re a white wine drinker, try dry, citrusy, and grassy whites from Piedmont, like Cortese di Gavi and Roero (arneis).