Robiola Bosina

my current favorite

It’s the oozy one on the bottom.

Texture: soft

Milk type: cow, sheep

Flavor notes: mild, lactic

Place of origin: Italy

Upon first glance, casual cheese eaters would compare Robiola Bosina to a French brie. They look similar: yellow interior with a runny texture, encased in a white rind. And, to be honest, they kind of taste similar. Both can be total crowd pleasers. But like all Italian foods when pitted against French, Robiola Bosina is better than brie. The difference is largely in the rind: Whereas many people are tempted to scoop around the bloomy rind of a brie, Robiola Bosina's rind is thin and inoffensive. It's very easy to eat, end to end.

Lately I've taken to thinking of Robiola Bosina as a dessert cheese. The creaminess of cow's milk combines with the subtlety of sheep's milk for a product that is both decadent in its richness and elegant in its soft flavor. It was practically made for nights when it's too cold for ice cream, to be eaten alongside pieces of dark chocolate and on top of a thick olive oil cracker with a touch of fig jam for sweetness. At least, according to me, a person who has been eating entirely too much sugar.

“Dessert cheese”

But its mild flavor makes it versatile. I was recently told that scooping it onto a garlic and thyme cracker tastes like "fancier Boursin," which is, I was assured, a good thing. That's when I remembered the cheese plate that pushed Robiola Bosina to the top of my list: a savory antipasto plate.

One of my former co-cheesemongers had suggested the cheese when I was putting together an Italy-themed plate in honor of my grandma. She was Italian, and she and my grandpa lived in Italy early in their marriage when he was in the army. Of all 89 years she lived, I think those were her favorite.

"It's super ripe right now," my then-coworker said of the then-current batch — though, in retrospect, she may have been pushing it because it was just past its use-by date and, optically speaking, it had to go. (Taste-wise, it's very delicious beyond its use-by date, and unless it's rancid or peppered with unavoidable mold, should be totally fine to eat.) I took a square, cut a piece of salty Cravero Parmigiano Reggiano, sliced some soppressata, grabbed a baguette, and decided to figure out the rest in the morning.

I ended up with a play on the salad we'd always order with pizza, the Robiola Bosina a welcomed fat alongside nutrient-dense sun-dried tomatoes, quick-roasted herby broccolini, and raw almonds, with softer sides pairing with the crumbly parm: roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, olive tapenade. Perfetto.

How to Eat Robiola Bosina

Robiola Bosina is a gooey, soft cheese, so pair it with foods that will add some structure to your bite. Tame stronger flavors with its mildness, and don't be afraid to surprise your palette by throwing a wildcard sweet (raw honey) onto your savory plate, or something savory (salty meat) onto your sweet. Let it sit at room temp for at least 30 minutes before eating for maximum ooze.

Did I convince you to try Robiola Bosina? Check your local cheese shop or grocery store’s cheese section. If that doesn’t work out, here are some places I found online that currently ship: Eataly in Chicago, Murray’s in New York, Caputo’s in Utah, Fairfield/Greenwich Cheese Co. in Connecticut, and Gourmet-Food.com. Please send pics and reviews!

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Special thanks & shout-outs

Thank you so much to Charlotte and George for reading my drafts, fluffing me up, and being my very first subscribers.

Shout-out to Sarah for sharing an excessive amount of vaccine data with me this week and answering all the questions I didn’t want to Google.

And crucially, thank you and shout-out to YOU for reading the first issue of Cheese, Please. I am genuinely thrilled to talk about eating cheese with you.

If you have a special thanks or shout-out, send it to me and I’ll include it here^ in the next newsletter.