Earlier last year, a criminal cheese gang made international headlines when the Russian police busted it for hauling $30 million of contraband cheddar. With Vladimir Putin’s ban on Western food products, Russians have been getting creative about procuring their beloved banned cheeses. Sound nutty? The U.S. also has a list of banned cheeses—primarily because of health concerns—resulting in a black market where cheese delicacies can be had if you know where to look and are willing to pay up.
“The rule in the U.S. is that you can import cheeses that are aged more than 60 days, like Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino,” says Dino Borri, purchasing director for Eataly USA, which stocks roughly 300 different types of (legal) cheeses in its U.S. outposts in New York City and Chicago. What types of cheeses are ruled out? “The FDA rule in the U.S. is that you can’t import fresh cheese that is not pasteurized.” This means that raw (unpasteurized) cheeses aged less than 60 days—many of which are some of the best kinds out there—are not currently allowed to be produced or imported here in the States.
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