CurdNerds

In one of the hottest trends in dairy right now, companies in Europe and the U.S. are moving to create innovative products that contain added probiotic cultures, microorganisms thought to confer health benefits when ingested in adequate amounts. In January 2006, Dannon introduced Activia, a yogurt supplemented with live Bifidus Regularis bacteria, to the American market. And with each passing month it seems more and more companies are hopping on the probiotic bandwagon; Italian cheesemaker Bidino recently announced a new line of cheeses containing probiotic cultures.  read more »

I'd like to believe that this strange set of television ads for Parmigiano-Reggiano is something only native Italians can understand, but I also suspect that there are far weirder things appearing on American television every minute of every day. In any case, this video should make for a couple of minutes of bewildering fun.

Via Big Cheese Stories.

Burrata is a luscious, fresh cheese from Southern Italy, made from buffalo or cow's milk. Burrata is essentially unspun mozzarella curds mixed with fresh cream ("burro" is Italian for butter) stuffed into sheets of pulled mozzarella. This little pouch is then wrapped in leaves of the Asphodelus ramosus (an herb with leaves similar to leeks). Usually served with sliced tomatoes, basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, burrata is a uniquely delicious experience.

Available seasonally from the Bedford Cheese Shop

The University of Gastronomic Sciences, a project of Slow Food Italy, is taking their first-year students on a trip to the Appenine mountains on the Tuscany/Romagna border. They will learn about the Romagnola cow, one of the oldest breeds, which has gone from a population of about 500,000 in the 1950s to about 15,000 presently. They will also learn about Raviggiolo cheese, which is a creamy, seasonal, raw milk cheese produced in that area. Read all about the trip here.