All my years of Italian language study couldn't help me with Fiacco di Capra. I had to reach for the dictionary to learn that fiacco means tired.
Now you know, too, but don't make the mistake of thinking that Fiacco di Capra is tired goat cheese. Like other pungent washed-rind cheeses, it's alive and kicking.
Made in the Northern Italian region of Lombardy, Fiacco di Capra springs from the same tradition as Stracchino, a semisoft cow's-milk square with a long history in the region. In the case of Stracchino, the name harks back to the old ritual of transhumance, the seasonal movement of livestock up and down the mountain to take advantage of pasture.
The milk for Stracchino, legend has it, came from cows that were tired (stracca) after their long trek down the mountain. Or perhaps, the milk itself was tired, feeble in fat and protein.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: San Francisco Chronicle
