Bacolod farm makes Italian cheeses

BACOLOD, Philippines — Velvety, hard, buttery, or tangy, cheese runs a gamut of tastes, textures and flavors. Great cheese is a staple in every foodie’s kitchen, and in the Negros Trade Fair happening at the Glorietta Activity Center from September 14-18, Casa del Fomaggio promises just that, ABS-CBN News reported yesterday.

Founded by couple, Italian Francesco Patron and Negrense local Isabelle Montelibano, in 2014, Casa del Fomaggio (which literally translates to “house of cheese”) brings artisanal Italian cheeses straight from Bacolod to your table.

“The National Dairy Authority kept on encouraging us to get cows from them. And my dad, for two years, didn’t want to get it because he wasn’t a farmer, he was a businessman,” Montelibano recalled.

“When I was here with my husband—who is Italian—a few years ago, he thought, ‘Why don’t we make cheese?’ Not milk, but cheese. Italian cheese. And that’s how we started out,” she said.

While the company may be relatively young compared to other local cheesemakers, Casa del Fomaggio is slowly but surely carving its own niche in the cheese market of the Philippines by concentrating on Italian cheeses.

Using 100 percent cow’s milk from Negros, the company initially hired an Italian technician to facilitate the cheese-making process.

There is a clear focus on being as authentic as possible in terms of process and the end product. This includes Montelibano travelling to Italy to personally purchase their cultures and rennets, and using imported Italian cheese-making apparatus and machines as well.

“We’re fairly new compared to other farms. We’re new in this, so we’re always playing around,” said Montelibano.

While it has its bestsellers Assiago Alto (nutty, mild sharpness) and Caciotta (sweet, buttery), Casa del Fomaggio’s fresh cheeses should not be missed. From mozarella to ricotta, these fresh cheeses tick all the right boxes from texture to taste.

I particularly enjoyed the burrata, which I was lucky to have freshly made. “Burrata is the simplest but the trickiest,” Montelibano noted.

Burata is butter and cream hugged by mozarella. When you bite into it, the thin layer of mozarella gives with the barest effort, quickly followed by cream and softness, and a delicate interplay of acid and salt.

Another way they play around with their cheese is by infusing it with flavors like in the case of the Peperocino with Chilies, and Pepato with Black Pepper.

Hard cheeses are also in the works with an ongoing Parmesan experiment, as well as bleu cheese. “We’re doing some bleu called Negros Bleu. Not as strong as gorgonzola, we’re trying to do the sweeter side of bleu cheese, a milder version so Filipinos can eat it,” shared Montelibano.

While there are plans of putting up a deli in Bacolod to feature products not only of Casa del Fomaggio but of the region, in the meantime, turophiles can get Casa del Fomaggio Italian cheeses in Cantina Mondo and K Mart both in Bacolod, as well as Piecofoods in Manila.

Or even better, if you’re in Makati City from September 14 to 18, head on over to the Negros Trade Fair to taste some artisanal delights from Casa del Fomaggio. (FREEMAN)