Castelmagno vs Toma
Castelmagno
Facts
- Milk
- Cow
- Texture
- Semi-hard
- Type
- Pressed
- Rind
- Natural rind
- Country
- Italy
- Place
- Piedmont
- Status
- PDO
Castelmagno is a semi-hard cow's milk cheese from Italy, and the name is protected. Wheels are pressed, with a thick natural rind that runs from reddish brown to gray. The paste is crumbly rather than elastic, ivory when young and deeper straw as it ages. There are no large eyes. Older wheels can show blue-green veins that arrive on their own in the cellar, and those veins are a known face of the cheese, not a separate recipe.
Toma
Facts
- Texture
- Semi-hard
- Type
- Pressed
- Rind
- Natural rind
- Country
- Italy
Toma is a family of Italian pressed cheeses, not one wheel with a single fixed recipe. The name covers rustic rounds with a natural rind, a pale interior, and a mild to nutty flavor that depends on age and the maker. Most are firm enough to slice, and some grow harder and more savory as they mature. Italy is the home of the style, and dairies use the word for this kind of cheese. It is a table cheese and a cooking cheese, not a fresh spread.