La Serena
The legendary Spanish "torta" cheeses from Extremadura can become so decadently oozy inside that enthusiasts simply lift the top rind and eat its bone-white creaminess with a spoon. So why, I wonder, has it been so hard to find a local cheesemonger willing to hold onto a La Serena long enough to let that runniness develop?
The legendary Spanish "torta" cheeses from Extremadura can become so decadently oozy inside that enthusiasts simply lift the top rind and eat its bone-white creaminess with a spoon. So why, I wonder, has it been so hard to find a local cheesemonger willing to hold onto a La Serena long enough to let that runniness develop?
It's been largely a case of retail impatience, I suspect, to shortchange such a great cheese of its ultra-ripe potential. But the new Garces Trading Co. is one store that's doing it right. The wedge of Serena I recently bought there, aged an extra couple of weeks in their charcuterie room, was so lusciously, majestically creamy, I had to fight off the family for my fair share. But it's not just creamy. The wild cardoon thistle that coagulates the sheep's milk (as opposed to animal rennet) lends the paste a bright tang reminiscent of wine-poached artichokes that is distinctive and addictive. You can get it by the wedge. But a two-and-a-half pound wheel is a splurge worthy of its own party - spoons and all.
- Craig LaBan
La Serena, $23.99 a pound, at Garces Trading Co., 1111 Locust Street, 215-574-1099.