Truffello

Producer

Mouco Cheese Company Inc.

Country

United States

Region

Colorado

Size

2.5 ins diameter, 1 in high

Weight

5 oz

Website

www.mouco.com

Milk

Cow

Classification

Soft

Rennet

Animal

Rind

Mold Ripened

MouCo Cheese Company is owned by Birgit Halbreiter and Robert Poland, who met while working for the New Belgium Brewing Company. Birgit, who is originally from Germany, has a background in Food Science and Robert was the Fermentation Manager at the brewery. In 2000, after some experimental cheesemaking at home, Birgit enlisted the help of her father, Franz, a master cheesemaker from Germany. Today, MouCo Cheese Company produces four types of soft cheese: MouCo Camembert, ColoRouge, Ashley and Truffello. Pasteurized milk, predominantly from Holstein cows, is sourced from Morning Fresh Dairy, located just outside Fort Collins. For production of Truffello, the milk is heated and the cultures and rennet added. After coagulation, small slivers of imported black truffle are added to the curd which is carefully ladled into molds to preserve as much moisture as possible. The young cheeses are then allowed to drain for a few hours, before being unmolded and salted which helps to kick-start the development of the white bloomy rind. They are then transferred to racks and dried slightly before being moved to the maturing cave. After a period of about two weeks the cheeses are ready to be released. The texture of Truffello is soft, creamy and yielding. The exterior rind is white and bloomy and the interior paste ivory white and studded with black truffle. The flavors of Truffello are clean, rich and smooth with distinctly aromatic truffle notes and flavors of truffles and cream. With age, the texture becomes luscious and viscous whilst the flavors deepen, becoming more earthy.