Sottocenere al tartufo is a very pale yellow to off-white

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

with

truffles A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus ''Tuber''. In addition to ''Tuber'', many other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''Peziza ...

that has a grey-brown ash rind. It has a somewhat mild taste and is semi-soft in firmness. ''Sottocenere'' (meaning "under ash") is originally from

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, Italy, and is made with pasteurized cow's milk and slices of truffles, then rubbed with various herbs and spices. It is aged in an ash rind as a way to preserve it over a long period without losing flavor, a tradition in the Venetian region. The ash is also used to convey subtle flavors into the cheese, with a variety of spices (

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

and nutmeg, among others) mixed with the ash. The ''al tartufo'' refers to the addition of slivers of

black truffle ''Tuber melanosporum'', called the black truffle, Périgord truffle or French black truffle, is a species of truffle native to Southern Europe. It is one of the most expensive edible mushrooms in the world. Taxonomy Italian naturalist Carlo Vi ...

into the cheese, during the cheese making.

References

External links

About.com's entry on Sottocenere
Cheeses of Veneto Cow's-milk cheeses Italian cheeses {{cheese-stub