You say macaroni, I say Squacquerone. Ciao to one of Italy’s best kept secrets

One of the delights of our recent trip to Bologna was emerging from our apartment one Sunday morning in search of coffee to find a buzzing organic market on our doorstep. Just 12 hours earlier the Piazza Aldrovandi  had been swarming with carousing students; now it was celebrating the equally vibrant food culture of the Emilia Romagna region.

On a dairy stall we encountered a tub of Squacquerone. Surely this was the tangy soft cheese layered with prosciutto di parma and arugula (rocket) on the piadina flatbread we had snacked on in the Quadrilatero gastronomic quarter? A purchase and post-coffee tasting confirmed it.

Squacquerone di Romagna is a wobblier more spreadable version of the Lombard soft cheese stracchino, matured for a maximum four days, often less. 

It has PDO status, exclusively produced in a well defined area between the Ravenna, Cesena, Rimini, Bologna and Ferrara provinces, and between 64 Porrettana trunk road and Po river. Four cattle breeds, including Frisona Italiana (Friesian) provide the rich milk, the native lactic enzymes joined by natural whey starter, veal rennet and salt. Result: the final product, shaped by the molds, it is poured into, is slightly sourish from brining, but also delicately herbaceous. 

Under my radar till Bologna and I’m now trying to source it in the UK. Perhaps like the Lambrusco wine that accompanies it som well, it doesn’t travel well.