Sottocenere al tartufo
Encyclopedia
Sottocenere al tartufo is a very pale yellow to off-white cheese
that has a grey-brown ash rind. It has a somewhat mild taste and is semi-soft in firmness.
Sottocenere is originally from Venice
, Italy
and translates from Italian literally as "under ash", while al tartufo means "with truffles." It is made with raw cow's milk and slices of truffles, then rubbed with various herbs and spices. After creation, sottocenere is aged in an ash rind as a way to preserve it over a long period without losing flavor. The use of ash as a cheese rind is a tradition in the Venetian region. The ash is also used to convey subtle flavors into the cheese, with a variety of spices (cinnamon
and nutmeg
, among others) mixed with the ash.
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
that has a grey-brown ash rind. It has a somewhat mild taste and is semi-soft in firmness.
Sottocenere is originally from Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and translates from Italian literally as "under ash", while al tartufo means "with truffles." It is made with raw cow's milk and slices of truffles, then rubbed with various herbs and spices. After creation, sottocenere is aged in an ash rind as a way to preserve it over a long period without losing flavor. The use of ash as a cheese rind is a tradition in the Venetian region. The ash is also used to convey subtle flavors into the cheese, with a variety of spices (cinnamon
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...
and nutmeg
Nutmeg
The nutmeg tree is any of several species of trees in genus Myristica. The most important commercial species is Myristica fragrans, an evergreen tree indigenous to the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia...
, among others) mixed with the ash.