At the Pasta Shop in Oakland, where I encountered Juni for the first time, the clerk described it as smelling "like a gin and tonic." Who could resist? Everyone around me wanted a taste.
Juni is a new cheese based on an old one. The foundation cheese is Toma Brusca, from the northern Italian region of Piedmont. An aged wheel made with cow's milk, Toma Brusca gets its name (literally, "acid cheese") from the method used to produce it. The fresh milk is allowed to rest for a few hours until the acidity rises before cheese making begins. In the old days, cheesemakers probably combined evening milk, which soured slightly overnight, with the fresh morning milk and then proceeded with cheese making. The acidic milk helped coagulate the fresh milk naturally.
The recipe also calls for minimal rennet, yielding a curd with a delicate structure. At about 60 days, the wheel has a semifirm, dense, yet crumbly texture. When you bend a piece, it breaks cleanly. As the wheel matures, the interior becomes more creamy, the result of enzymes breaking down the paste.
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