Puzzone di Moena: why that smell also tastes so good

I challenge anyone not to admit to having some doubts after hearing the name of this cheese: Puzzone. Indeed, the term, in its particularity, is quite appropriate, but the Puzzone di Moena is, to date, the most sold cheese in Trentino precisely because of its characteristic smell. Yes, smell, which in technical terms describes the olfactory sensation of a cheese. 

In the Fassa Valley, there is only one dairy that produces Puzzone and collects milk from the municipalities of Predazzo and Moena. It is a DOP and the value of this cheese lies in being born from an unspoiled nature: pure waters, dolomitic breezes, and flowering pastures. The color of its paste is extraordinarily inviting. Made with raw milk, it is a cheese that “perspires” and, in particular, its thick crust always has a particular greasiness. Yet its flavor and smell can leave one puzzled at first approach. In our opinion, the name is overly exaggerated for how it can truly be perceived once known: the Puzzone doesn’t stink, it has an intense smell, that’s right! 

The Puzzone di Moena is obtained from the milk of Brown and Gray Alpine breed cows, fed only with fresh or dried forage. A wheel weighs between 9 and 12 kg and every year about 13,000 wheels are produced, with aging varying from a minimum of 60 days up to 8 months. The process that allows the production of its characteristic intense flavor comes from the washing with water and salt that is done during the maturation on wooden boards. This continuous treatment makes the crust practically waterproof and thus promotes the growth of anaerobic bacteria within the paste of Puzzone that produce a particular acid called propionic, which is also found in the wheels of Fontina and Emmental. The difference with these cheeses lies entirely in the value of the different flowering pastures, considering that the best milk and wheels always come from high-altitude grazing areas. 

In the kitchen, the Puzzone di Moena is an ideal cheese for melting in various preparations. In particular, in Trentino and Val di Fassa, it is preferred over nice hot polenta, or to prepare polente conce by mixing pieces of Puzzone with hot polenta and perhaps some tasty pork sausages or venison. It is also excellent melted with broccoli in oil or with pink pepper on bruschetta. What stinks turns into an intoxicating and pleasant aroma once used in the kitchen. It’s also great for enhancing pizzas with speck or with chili soppressate.

So there’s stink and stink: the Puzzone’s is the only one you can bring home while always making a good impression!

Bernardo Pasquali
 

S&M