enter the cheese cave.

A friend and I got a chance to go on a tour of the cheese cave at Formaggio Kitchen a few weeks ago. Formaggio’s is well-known gourmet food shop in Cambridge that I’ve wanted to visit for ages, but it’s a bit of a trek over, and I just never made it there. Pretty surprising that I let the long-ish walk stop me since they are known for their interesting, high-quality cheeses (among many other things), and I LOVE LOVE LOVE cheese. Apparently they have killer weekend barbecues too during the warm weather season.

Anyway, better late than never, right? An email from a Food Literacy Program rep about the cheese tour was just the push I needed to finally get over there. So glad I did! The huge selection of cheese, meats, bread, wine, and other gourmet food was impressive, and there were samples galore (the best part, obviously)! And of course, getting to peek into the cheese cave was pretty cool, although it was quite chilly and stunk of ammonia from some of the more pungent cheese rinds.

In the cave, Ihsan taught us all about proper cheese sourcing, testing, storage, and care. I already knew Formaggio was a locally renowned cheese shop, but apparently its reputation for top quality products extends all over the country and even internationally. A lot of the cheese comes from France, the Pyrenees, elsewhere in Europe, as well as from more local sources like Vermont farms. We got to sniff and sample tiny bits of some really unique cheeses from the cave, some really creamy and tasty, and some…a bit too complex for my common palate :P

More samples once we climbed out of the cave. Took a lot of restraint not too buy a pound of everything…

There are tons of other cool fresh and packaged products in the store, and even a bakery. Check out these fresh figs! So pricey, but beautiful, and super tasty I’m sure.

Formaggio Kitchen
244 Huron Avenue
Cambridge, MA