When we started our Cheese bBog, one of our main goals was to answer some of
the questions we most regularly get on the cheese counter. As our blog’s
archive has grown, we realize that some of these posts are becoming a
little bit difficult to find so, here, under one header, we bring
together the answers to some of those commonly asked questions! Click here for the full article.

Follow this link to our Formaggio Cheese Blog to read Mary's new post on the process behing the making of one of the world's greatest cheeses: Parmigiano Reggiano. 

Follow this link to our blog to read about our chocolate buyer's visit to Mast Brother's Chocolate in Brookly, NY: Formaggio Blog

Follow this link to the Formaggio Kitchen website to read about Valerie, Julie and Ihsan's most recent trip abroad in search of new and exiting cheeses. 

Follow this link to our Formaggio Kitchen website for a cheesemonger authored educational page on how to put together the perfect cheese plate. Click here. 

Now that Seville oranges have arrived in our shop we have all the ingredients to make one of our favorite winter drinks:

Cedric Dickens' Smoking Bishop

6 Seville oranges (or 1 Grapefruit and 4 regular oranges)
5 whole cloves
1 bottle inexpensive red wine
1/2 cup sugar
1 bottle port 

Bake 6 Seville oranges
in a moderate oven until pale brown. If you cannot procure any bitter
Seville oranges, use four regular oranges and one large grapefruit.
Prick each of the oranges with five whole cloves, put them into a warmed ceramic or glass vessel with 1/2 cup of sugar and a bottle of red wine, cover the vessel, and leave it in a warm place for 24 hours.
Take the oranges out of the mixture, cut in half and squeeze the juice, then pour the juice back into the wine.
Pour the mixture into a saucepan through a sieve, add a bottle of port, heat (without boiling), and serve in warmed glasses.

from Drinking with Dickens, by Cedric Dickens

Follow this link to read the newest of our store travelogues, this time written by Tim and Julie on their February trip to Portugal.

http://www.formaggiokitchen.com/travelogues/portugal/Alentejo

We are not currently hiring but feel free to email julie@southendformaggio.com about future employment opportunities. 

One of our favorite finds at this year's Salon Du Fromage in Paris was a host of new (to us) fermier cheeses from the Savoie. The Savoie produces a host of great cheeses, though the majority are large production and are more industrial in production. As a reminder, Fermier cheeses are those which have been produced on the farm, as opposed to cheeses made in a factory or in a large cheesemaking facility.  
The first batch of these tasty cheeses arrived yesterday, and includes a well-balanced Tomme de Savoie, a buttery Tomme de Pays, a sumptuous Tomme Crayeuse and a gorgeous Alpage Abondance.
The unifying factor in all of these beautiful cheeses is their complex but clean and clear flavors.Ask for a taste on your next visit to the store!

The new Formaggio Kitchen blog is off to a good start with a variety of
posts about cheese, tea, apples and plenty of other food-related
subjects. This blog is intended to be a offer a more personal view
of our work here at Formaggio Kitchen and South End Formaggio and our connection to the food
world at large.  We are particularly excited to hear your feedback, so
we invite you to check out our blog on a regular basis or set up an RSS
feed to get updates delivered to your email or reader of choice.

And to all the South End Formaggio shoppers out there, keep in mind that anything you seen on the Formaggio Blog (except cinnamon bread!) can be sent over to the South End location for you to pick up, even if we don't normally keep it in stock. We get deliveries from Formaggio Kitchen every day! 

Back in stock! Domaine La Guintrandy's Cotes du Rhone in a box. All natural and all delicious for the equivalent of less than $8 a bottle.This box will last more than a month after opening, so it's great for a glass or a half a glass a night, or for a big party where people will be refilling their glasses often. No need to refrigerate, the box seals itself after every use like magic. A blend of Syrah and Grenache, this is a fantastic everyday sipper and versatile for pairing with meals and cheeses.
A staff favorite!! $29.95 for a 3 Liter box.

Tis the season for holiday parties, and everyone loves an ample cheese board weather it's before a dinner party or for a cocktail and appetizer party. Our expert cheesemongers can walk you through the process of choosing your cheeses. Alternatively, for those in a hurry, we can simply choose your cheeses for you. Feel free to call ahead and have us prepare your cheeses for a quick and easy pick-up. 

• We suggest a selection of three to five cheeses, in a variety of milks and textures. One sheep's milk, one cow's milk, one goat's milk and one blue, make a nice well-rounded cheese board.
  
  We recommend around 3oz of cheese per person for an appetizer portion. 
• Cheese condiments like jams, honeys, membrillo, chutney or mostardas are a great addition. We can point out specific condiments that will pair well with your cheeses.
  
  
• Nuts and dried fruits are a good choice for cold-weather cheese boards, when there are few fresh fruits in season. Also consider serving olives, tapenades, artichokes and dates
  
  
• We are happy to recommend a cracker for your cheeses but we always prefer a crusty baguette.
  
  
• Ask your cheesemonger to recommend wines, beers or ciders that will pair well with your cheese selection. For parties remember that we offer a 10% discount on full cases of all wines and beers and the same discount on 6 or more selections for the $16 and under table.

Remember, we also have a selection of ready-made cheese and appetizer platters on our catering menu.

Back in stock for the holiday season, the exquisite confections of Romanengo Fu Stefano of Genova. Handmade items include intense fruit pastes in the shape of their respective fruits and dipped in sugar (the strawberry is mind-blowing!); fruit infused fondant cubes in amazingly pure flavors like pear, anise, apricot and banana; thick rose syrup made from cauldrons full of rose petals; and three types of pure chocolate in beautifully decorated labels.

The newest member of our Sherry family has arrived, a raisin-scented Pedro Ximenez from Maestro Sierra. This winery was founded in 1832 by Jose Antonio Sierra, who was a master
carpenter, and  one of the top
coopers in the area, and is now owned by Pilar Pla
Pechovierto, a widow whose husband was a
direct descendent of the Sierra family. Juan
Clavijo has been the Capataz of the winery for over fifty years, and is responsible for tasting all
the barrels and deciding when to rack the wines. He has been at Maestro
Sierra all his life, and does
everything by hand and in accordance to the old traditions. Maestro Sierra's Pedro Ximenez, comes from vines ranging from 10-60 years of age, and is aged for 15 years in the solera system. This a sweet sherry tastes like liquid raisins, and makes a lovely end to a meal when served with a bit of nice queso azul, or a simple dish of almonds. 

Domaine des Cotes de la Molière is a tiny operation run by
Isabelle and Bruno Perraud, the sixth generation of the family to farm
this estate. They are farming their vineyards organically, and
practicing non-interventionist winemaking, even to the point of adding
no sulfur to their wines. You've seen their Beaujolais-Villages on the
shelves at South End Formaggio, and now we're proud to be carrying their Moulin-à-Vent.This wine is not what most people imagine when they think of Beaujolais. The presence of wild yeasts and the lack of added sulfur make for a dark, funky and
meaty wine with a big rich black cherry flavor. This Gamay is almost
more like a wine from the Rhone valley, but with a classic, almost
floral Moulin-à-Vent nose. We're definitely thinking pork here, roasts
or rillettes, or even steak frites. Also, Moliere's Beaujolais Nouveau
is the only one we've been carrying in recent years, and this year's
no-sulfur-added gem will be in the week before Thanksgiving. With
reflections of everything we love in their Beaujolais-Villages, it will
make you question everything you thought you knew about Beaujolais
Nouveau!

Our new gift cards have just arrived- a more convenient replacement for our gift certificate. Like our gift certificates, these gift cards are available in any amount, and can be refilled with credit if needed. They aslo can be used at any of our three locations, in Boston, Cambridge, or New York, or in our on-line store at www.formaggiokitchen.com.

Sign up to receive an email each Monday morning of our weekly menu, to help you plan your dinners for the week. As always our menu items are available after 2pm, but please feel free to call ahead in the morning to reserve the amounts you need.
Email me at julie@southendformaggio.com to have your name added to the list of Weekly Menu recipients.

Nitrate-free free-range hams "in limited numbers".

The Newsom family of Princeton, Kentucky has been making amazing hams since the 1700s. Their Prosciutto Ham is cured with salt and brown sugar, and is ever-so-slightly smoked. The resulting ham is sweet and rich and slices beautifully.
We're also proud to be stocking Newsom's "Preacher Ham" or Smoked BBQ Ham (pictured here). This unaged ham is milder and less salty than country ham, and is moist, smokey and sweet after a sugar cure and overnight simmering over an open hickory pit. They call it the Preacher Ham because it's "the best meal you can find to serve the preacher for Sunday dinner."We slice this ham by hand so the slices are thick - perfect for a sandwich or to serve as a main course. I'm having it for dinner tonight cold with potato salad, corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes. 

One of our new favorite cheeses is now in stock from one of our new favorite cheesemakers- Mark Robie of  Robie Farm. Mark has 60 cows and he takes extreme measures to ensure that only the very best milk is used for his tiny production of cheese. Every month he sends his milk off to get tested for fat and protein content, and for content of impurities, and he then isolates the top 20 cows with the cleanest milk and uses only their milk for cheese. This group of 20 top performers changes each month, mostly depending on where the cow is in it's lactation cycle. This care in farming is evident in the extremely pure and clean milky flavors in  Help us support Mark by making his cheese as famous as it deserves to be! We currently stock three of Mark's cheeses: Piermont, Smoked Toma, and Swaledale. Ask for a taste next time you're in the store. 

Visit the South End Formaggio page on Facebook to see photos of the store and to see updates on new products and ripe cheeses. Become a fan to receive updates about tastings and events.
Click here to see our page.

A brief look at a few of our most uplifting red wines for cold weather, and a suggestion of foods to eat with them.

Cantina Sociale Cooperativa Copertino Riserva 2001- Consistently our best selling red wine-even in warmer months, this intense red wine from southern Italy will warm you to your toes. This old-school co-op makes this value-priced wine from mostly Negroamaro grapes, the same way it has since the 1930s. Delicious with cold-weather Italian foods like Polenta with Bolognese Sauce, rich Lasagne, roasted meats or Mushroom Risotto. Excellent with a variety of salami and prosciutto and firm cheeses like Calcagno or Parmigiano. $13.95

Gobelsberger Zweigelt 2006- One of our favorite wine finds of the year- from our friends at Schloss Gobelsburg a juicy, plummy and warm red wine made from the Zweigelt grape, a cross of the Austrian red grapes Blaufrankish and St. Laurent. It is the most widely grown red grape variety in Austria- but a well kept secret here in the States. This is our cheese buyer's newest favorite wine. Lovely with a variety of our Austrian cheeses like Langenegg Rasskase. $17.95

Domaine Berthoumieu Madiran 2005- 90% Tannat and 10% Cabernet make up this king of polyphenolic wines famous for its health-giving properties. Big, dark, powerful and delicious. Drink with intense roasts and stews. A traditional regional pairing for Brebis d'Ossau and others in the family of the Pyranees Brebis. $24.95

On November 10, Formaggio Kitchen owner Ihsan Gurdal will receive the title of Chevalier of the
Ordre du Mérite Agricole from the French government.  This title is
being given to Ihsan for his tireless work in supporting French
agricultural artisans by introducing his stateside customers to their
hand-crafted products.

During his education at the French school in
Istanbul, Ihsan developed a fondness for French culture at an early
age.  Sicne then he has travelled extensively throughout France and
over his career he has sought producers who represent the
traditions of their region.  "This is an incredible honor and I am
proud to be granted the title of Chevalier because it reflects our
dedication to working with producers who are the agricultural roots of
France." said Ihsan on hearing the good news.
Other
American recipients of this prestigous title include Julia Child,
Jacques Pépin, Paul Prudhomme, Alice Waters and Kermit Lynch.

The
Ordre du Mérite Agricole was established 1883 by Jules Méline, Minister
of Agriculture as an adjunct title of the French Legion of Honor to
recognize those individuals who have made significant contributions to
the development and progress of agriculture in France. 

At a cheese show in Italy last fall we met a group of Belgian cheesemongers promoting their country's farmhouse cheeses. It was fascinating to discover this hitherto untapped resource for excellent cheeses, and to see the how the country's melange of cultures is reflected in the breadth of its cheese varieties. A Formaggio contingent has just returned from a tasting mission to Belgium where they met the cheesemakers (and the goats and sheep!) and visited 5 fantastic breweries.

These new cheeses have arrived at the Formaggio stores, imported exclusively by us and in the U.S. for the first time ever- visit our Belgian cheese page on our Formaggio Kitchen website for more information, and ask at the cheese counter for a taste of any of the new cheeses!

Just in- an inexpensive pleasure from the Basque country- Sagardo Natura, aka natural cider. This barely fizzy cider is made from apples ground and pressed in the fall and fermented in large casks until spring when it is bottled unfiltered. Basque cider bars traditionally pour this treat from a great height to "fizz" the cider against the edge of the glass, and the customer downs the cider quickly as it is said to be at its best when just poured. Try it with spicy chorizos, garlicky seafood dishes, and cheese plates with membrillo. $10.95 per bottle available at both South End Formaggio and Formaggio Kitchen

After months of heady anticipation Jean David's 2005 Vin de Pays organic wine in a box to Boston. This Rhone blend is our staff's favorite summer wine, we take it to parties, we take it camping, we give it as gifts, and we keep the boxes on our counters at home in case of emergency. Tastes great with burgers, pasta, meatloaf, roasted chicken, BBQ, grilled sausages, and a huge variety of cheeses, pates and rillettes.

The euro to dollar exchange has bumped the price up a bit for this vintage but still, $39.95 divided by 5 liters equals $7.99 per LITER. That's $5 less than our favorite gruner veltliner liters, and those are a steal.

Jean David Organic Box $39.95/ 5 liter box

Our wine buyers Julie from South End Formaggio and David from Formaggio Kitchen just got back from a week long wine tasting extravaganza in Verona, Italy at the annual VinItaly wine fair.

See photos of some of our favorite winemakers like Severino from Erbaluna, Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy and Francoise and Phillipe from Chateau Tour Grise.

Click here to view their slideshow on the Formaggio Kitchen website.