At first sight, it looks a bit odd. We’ve come to know cheese in certain forms. Usually, a pointed triangular chunk, a big round wheel or the classic cheese slice. Taleggio however bucks the trend. It’s square or maybe more correctly said cuboidal.

This is not the only oddity about Taleggio. In this Taleggio review, we will see that Taleggio cheese has some special features that make it something of a strange delight.

An Orange Hue

Beyond the aforementioned cuboidal shape, the next thing that stands out is its orange colour. Admittedly, it is only the rind that is orange, the flesh of the cheese being a fairly standard yellowy white.

My block was well wrapped up in an outer papery packaging and then the two sides of the block of cheese which weren’t protected by rind (my little sample had obviously come from a corner of a bigger block of Taleggio n.b. although a say little, the cheese went further than expected, but more of that in a moment) were also encased in a plasticky cheese paper to stop them from oxidizing due to air contact.

Once these outer trappings were removed the Taleggio’s grainy, orange colour was evident. This specific rind results from the way Taleggio is matured.

It’s all about Cleanliness

Cleanliness is a much lauded characteristic. Although it’s maybe not quite as virtuous as some would have you believe (Godliness is quite a high standard, although God’s grace makes it attainable!), it is nevertheless important, both in a general sense and also for the making of Taleggio cheese.

Taleggio is a medium, soft cheese (hard to judge these things, but mine was definitely squishy, but in a firm, shape retaining kind of way) produced in swaths across northern Italy. It has a dop which means that official Taleggio can only be made in certain areas, although there are quite a few of them, so it is a widely produced cheese.

The key element to its manufacture is the fact that once the curd has been separeted from the whey and left to mature, the outside of it is regularly washed in order to control the bacteria growing on it. In other words, cutting down on bacterial that you don’t really want so that those you do are freer to grow.

I don’t know too much about the specifics, but in any case my block of Taleggio definitely had an orange rind as a result of this process, indeed there were what looked like a few specks of actual green mould. I would have been apprehensive about eating those, if it were not for a reassurance on the side of the packet that the mould on the cheese was fully edible (did they really mean the green bits though?)

The Proof of the Pudding

My home economics teacher at school use to say that you eat with your eyes, and if so, the Taleggio looked intriguing with its orangey outside, but the few spots of green were definitely off putting.

Taly ho though, it wasn’t bought not to be tried! It was easy to cut and the texture was nice. A soft inside with a slightly firm, even chewy outside. The inside had a taste a bit like dairilea, but with quite a kick to it. The outside rid had a different taste, not unpleasant, but lacking the tang of the insides.

Traditionally, Taleggio would have been matured in caves, which would have influenced the taste and smell. Indeed, I have seen it described as having a pungent odor. Mine didn’t, indeed I would describe it as a light, fairly standard cheese aroma. Maybe this one was matured in some fairly modern caves.

Coming into its own

Obviously, cheese are made to be used in combination with other things, although can be enjoyed on their own. I would say that I could occasionally nibble on a bit of Taleggio as a snack, but not a lot.

The evident real use of Taleggio seems to be as a melting cheese. I sliced some and grilled it on toast and it produced an excellent cheese on toast. It melted evenly and quickly and had a real nice taste to it. Not only that but the rind went almost a little crispy.

I could definitely recommend using this cheese in dishes that require melted cheese  I’m thinking that it would be good with pasta for example  although I didn’t try.

Final Comments

It could be said to be a little expensive at just over £2 for a little block, where other cheeses come in bigger blocks for a similar price. However, it is a specialty cheese, my one saying on the packet that it had been made by the Cairati (sounds a bit like an Italian martial art) family. Also, its quite strong flavour meant that you probably wouldn’t want to eat too much in one go anyway.

One draw back was that after a few days in the fridge, I noticed a strong smell. At first, I thought the blueberries had gone off, but I think it was actually the Taleggio cheese. I also felt a little sick after eating some, although I think that could well have been the blueberries. In any case, I wouldn’t recommend keeping Taleggio for too long (maybe that’s why the blocks are small.

Overall, even though it’s not all roses (in a figurative sense!), it is still a quality cheese. It was a pleasant experience to try and I can see that Taleggio could have many uses.

It is a cheese with a long history, and longevity suggests that there must be something special about it. Obviously, todays Taleggio is a standardised modern version, but even though that might cost a little bit of flavour and fragrance, it at least adds to the stability if the end product.

If you’ve got some spare cash, Taleggio is certainly worth trying. It has something special about it and is worth supporting the traditional pdo producers.

There are many great cheeses out there, but for any cheese connoisseur it’s worth giving this one ago!