Red and Piave Cheese, my taste testing

 I would like to dedicate my latest cheese-tasting blog to my sister, who was gracious enough to see about procuring the cheese I tested for this review from her local cheesemonger and sending some my way.

This is not going to be an overly long post, as I only tasted two new varieties, but both are fairly unique and deserve some discussion.

The first cheese I tasted was Westminister Rustic Red Cheddar. Red cheddar is a bit interesting in that its creation was the result of a happy accident. Specifically, it was originally created by the accidental mixture of Lactobacillus helveticus starter culture into what was meant to be a cheddar cheese. This starter culture is commonly used in Swiss and Emmental-style cheese, so the original cheesemaker was worried it would taste terrible. To their pleasant surprise, the final product tasted great.

As the name suggests, it's distinctly dark orange-red in color. The texture is similar to cheddar but more crumbly like an Italian hard cheese. The taste, though, is fascinating. While it will taste much like a sharp cheddar, it's far crumblier, has some noticeable hints of Swiss-style flavor, and ends with a creamy tang on the way down. I personally rather enjoyed it and would consider it a fine snacking cheese for those with robust tastes. Pair it with a good red wine if you want to have a complimentary alcoholic beverage.

My mother and grandmother concurred on the above, both finding you can eat this in small portions and get a lot of flavor per bite.

The other cheese is a bit closer to my usual taste, a Piave Vecchio Selezione Oro, or a 12-month-old Piave cheese, named after Italy's Piave river. 

Most of the flavor is highly reminiscent of Parmigiano-Reggiano, though there are some differences. Unlike aged Parmesan, this is not nearly as dry and gritty. It's mildly buttery despite the aging and there is a far less concentrated taste of salt. It's still pretty hard and more of a grating cheese than a snacking cheese, but it's still very good for snacking and a fine grating alternative to Parmesan if you want a fresher cheese with a similar taste minus the aforementioned qualities mentioned above it lacks.