U Bel Fiuritu
A wonderfully flavourful sheep cheese from Corsica. The indigenous sheep produce a creamy and strong aromatic milk that is used to make this cheese. The sheep graze on the stony terrain of the eastern coast, where there are abundant scrubby “Maquis” bushes which are intensely fragrant and add depth and complexity to the flavour, in addition to wild rosemary, juniper and myrtle. This creates a flavour unique to the island.
U Bel Fiuritu cheese has a rustic, sticky orange-ish rind, with the odd spot of mould which is the result of being repeatedly washed in brine as it matures. Its aroma is pungent and has more than its fair share of the ‘barnyard’. The flavour is a strong, with a pleasant balance of sweetness and sharpness, with some hints of crème fraîche and toffee. The paste becomes softer and more pliable as it matures, although the centre stays somewhat firm. The name, in Corsican dialect, means “the small, beautiful flower”. Serve with crusty bread.