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2013-08-21
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Many times have I tried French cheese, but not once Italian Cheese. iL Posto 97, a contemporary Italian restaurant located at Lang Gwai Fong, Central, recently introduced wine & cheese night every Tuesday 8pm - 10pm with free-flow of red and white Italian wine and Northern Italian Cheese at a price of HKD250. If you have not tried Northern Italian Cheese, here is your chance to indulge in a selection of famous Northern Italian cheese at iL Posto 97!There are in total 7 Northern Italian cheeses,
There are in total 7 Northern Italian cheeses, 3 white wines and 4 red wines at the buffet area. Despite wine and cheese, bread baskets containing focaccia and grissini are also served on the table. The breads are all freshly made in house, the grissini was crispy enough but the focaccia was not flavourful enough.
Tonight we had our cheese nicely laid out so it is easier for il Posto 97 Chef Luca Marinelli to introduce us. The cute chef Luca Marinelli is originated in Lombardy, Italy, hence most of the cheese he introduced tonight are from that area.
The first cheese we had tonight is Grana Padano from region North of Po River Valley. It is the most popular hard cheese in Italy, made only with partially skimmed milk that is granular in texture and hence came with the name Grana. The golden colour Padano is 14 months old, mildly sweet with weak cheese taste and has a crumbly texture. It pairs very nice with sweet jam which brings up the sweetness of the cheese.
Next is Maggengo, another cheese from Lombardy, a semi-matured cow's milk cheese. It is very sweet, creamy and milky with a rubbery texture and milky aroma.
Ubriaco aka the Drunk Cheese is one of my favourite of the night. This crumbly, firm cheese with a distinct winey flavour and floral after taste is from the Northern Italy's Veneto. Traditionally, this cheese is well-bathed in local red and white wines along with skins, seeds, and leftovers from the wine making process and left to age for 10 months.
Gorgonzola Dolce is from a town called Gorgonzola at Lombardy. This creamy cheese has a powerful, peppery spicy taste with a mellow and sweet finish. Gorgonzola Dolce is said to be the cheese that every Italian household must have in the fridge.
Fontina originates from Valle D'Aosta, Alps since the 12th century is an extremely pungent cheese with intense flavour and bitter after taste. It tasted very much like Chinese Shrimp Paste as brought up by Smashing Pumpkin at the tasting, which most of us agreed.
Torregio is a crumbly chalky cow's milk cheese from Lombardy. The cheese is soft near the crust and dry near the center. It has a fruity aroma with powerful, salty and creamy taste. It is a mature version of Maggengo, and is my second favourite of the night.
Rossini, another pungent blue cheese of the night, is a blue-veined cow's milk cheese originates from Lombardy as well. The Rossini has an apple aroma with salty, sweet and spicy flavour at the same time. The flavour is very intense and tasted very much like washed cheese which I dislike.
I did not have alot of wine tonight but below I listed the wine that they currently offer for the wine & cheese night:
For White:1) Monte Zovo Pinot Grigio (Region: Veneto)
2) Gavi "Oro" La Scolca Cortese (Region: Piemonte)
3) Terranima Bianco, Rivera Bombino Bianco, Pampanuto & Chardonnay (Region: Puglia)
For Red:
1) Sangiovese Terre di Chieti IGT (Region: Caldora)
2) Sangiovese & Merlot Ortonese Rosso IFT (Region: Caldora)
3) Montepulcian o d'Abruzzo Doc "Riparosso" Illuminati (Region: Abruzzo)
4) Di Luccio Domencio Negroamaro Rosso (Region: Puglia)
In general, I found myself flavour French Cheese more as they are more tasteful with different depths. Having said that, I have only tried 7 Italian cheese tonight so I should perhaps try more before firmly concluding that.
Other Info. :
The Bill
(Tasting event)
Wine & Cheese Night - HKD250
10% Service Charge
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
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