Italian Adventures – We Bought a House in Italy!

We decided to try something new and signed up for a cheese making class in Todi. I did some research and this place has been around for a very long time and has an amazing reputation. Caseifricio Montecristo.

Their dairy is located within the agricultural company owned by the Technical Agricultural Institute of Todi, the oldest in Italy. The Montecristo Dairy was founded 25 years ago by a former student of the institute, Riccardo Marconi, who, after completing his studies, decided to embark on this adventure.

They transform 3 types of milk: bovine, ovine and caprine, always paying the utmost attention to the choice of the quality of the raw material. They produce around 70 types of cheeses, from the freshest to the most mature. An entire line is dedicated to lactose intolerants, and even celiacs can safely enjoy all our cheeses, as they are gluten-free. They contain no elements foreign to milk (preservatives, colorings, whiteners, stabilizers, mold repellents, etc.). You can even eat the peel if you like!

Everyone meets up in the cheese store for an introduction and an amazing display of all the wonderful cheeses available for purchase.

There is one special cheese, “Filtro d’Amore” (Love Potion), a limited-edition cheese honoring the 15th-century “Witch of Todi,” Matteuccia da Todi. This cow, sheep, and goat milk cheese is wrapped in aromatic herbs, matured in terracotta pots, and evokes local, ancient legends.

The cheese is inspired by Matteuccia, a historical figure executed as a witch in 1428. She wasn’t actually a witch, but because we lived off the land and made things with the natural herbs in the area, people presumed she was a witch. If you get a chance Google her to learn about the entire history and tragic events of the time.

The product is designed to be a unique gastronomic experience, often packaged to be opened with a special, theatrical, or magical, approach. I think it’s a shame to break apart the terracotta pot, but tradition indicates it will bring you good luck if you break it open cleanly. There is a YouTube Video of the opening experience.

You start with a tour of the cheese making facility, driving out to the farm and ‘suiting up’. It was amazing to see how they mass produce a variety of different cheeses and watch the machine spit out hundreds of balls of mozzarella. We got to taste it right out of the water and it was so fresh and delicious. What I learned is that after they are finished making all of the various cheeses in that cycle, what is left over is scooped up and placed into little draining baskets to become ricotta.

It was fascinating to watch one guy take a long strand of mozzarella and braid it into a beautiful cheese bundle. Here are some pictures and a short video.

After the tour, you head back to the shop to go into the academy kitchen so we could make our own. We made a truffle ricotta…it was SO MUCH ricotta!

After everyone completes their cheese, you set it on a rack to drain and rest, and head across the walkway to the tasting room. We sampled a variety of different cheeses and drank some yummy wine. All in all, it took a little more than 4 hours so by now we were ready for lunch!

Truth be told, we were starving long before we started making cheese. I was a total bonehead and set my alarm for 7:45, thinking we needed to be up by 8am, rather than leaving the house by 8am. DOH! Thankfully Liz hollered from across the room and I shot out of bed once I realized what I had done.

We threw on our clothes, hopped in the car and jetted off to get to Todi in time. Fortunately, I drive like a maniac Italian, so we made it with a few minutes to spare. Unfortunately for Liz, she didn’t get a chance to have her morning coffee and neither of us grabbed any food to eat.

Since I made the booking, I knew there was a tour but it didn’t give a specific timeframe so I made the assumption the entire experience would be about 3 hours. But we stayed in the cheese factory much longer than anticipated, which meant adding another hour to our morning event.

If you are going to be in the area, I highly recommend this experience. At the least, stop by the shop to see their amazing display of fresh cheeses and pick something up for aperitivo later.