Taleggio
Intermediate
🧀 Photo slot
An orange-rinded washed cheese: it smells far stronger than it tastes.
TasteMuch gentler than the aroma suggests — buttery savour with a faint fruitiness behind it. Few cheeses part smell and taste this far, which makes it the easiest way into washed-rind cheese.
TextureSoft and creamy, turning almost runny at room temperature, and under heat it slackens smoothly instead of stringing.
Similar cheeses
How it differsSoft like brie, but the rind is a different animal — washed in brine rather than bloomed with white mould, which gives it the orange tint and a far meatier smell. Unlike gorgonzola there is no blue veining. The gap between how it smells and how mild it actually tastes is the whole surprise of this cheese.
Pairing
🍷 WineLight red
🥂 DrinkBeer
🍽️ FoodPolenta, potatoes, pears, walnut bread
How to enjoy
Leave it out for half an hour and spread it on bread. It melts well, so it's at home in risotto, polenta, pizza and toasted sandwiches. The rind is edible but stronger and slightly bitter, so most people cut it off.
Storage
Wrap in paper and keep it in its own lidded box — the smell gets into everything else. A tacky rind is normal; a hard hit of ammonia means it's gone past.
⏳ Aging6–10 weeks (some as early as around 40 days)
Good to know
Named after Val Taleggio in Lombardy. The orange rind comes from being washed with brine through the ageing: the damp suits Brevibacterium linens, and that bacterium makes both the colour and the smell. It's also what's behind the faintly foot-like aroma.