Robusto

You know I like cheese, right? While chocolate is a legitimate and venerable food group, when I crave, I crave savory. Cheese falls under the savory category, even when I serve it with fruit. Ironically, while pizza is near the tippy-top of my favorite foods list (vegetables, crust, spicy meat all in one), I prefer it to be “light on the cheese”. Too much cheese, especially a near-ersatz mozzarella, can dull the palate and drown out the complexity that is, after all, pizza.

Anyhoo, what I wanted to mention was a cheese we have recently tried and are enjoying. It’s called Robusto. We’ve been buying it from Whole Foods, where they have a very nice cheese section. To me, Robusto tastes like a combination of a nutty Swiss and kicky Parmesan. It’s a Dutch cheese, from the Gouda family, with a firm, smooth texture.

By the way, Trader Joe’s is once again stocking their Mini-Toasts “crackers” from Holland. (We weren’t the kiss of death after all!) They are eensy-weensy, very crispy pieces of toast, shaped like a slice from a loaf of sandwich bread. They are quite mild in taste so they provide crunch, texture and a platform for any cheese.