The Taleggio Gusto Antico is an Italian cheese that has a creamy inside and frankly homely rind. It looks fuzzy and moldy–because it probably is.  Dark fuzzy ridges run across the pale yellow crust of it. While slicing it, I was skeptical. Mold on cheese is perfectly acceptable. The blue in blue cheese is mold. But the Taleggio Gusto Antico is not a blue cheese at all and I was unsure of the rind. Regardless, I sliced the cheese into pieces with the rind intact.

However, when it came try to try this gooey cheese with a odd rind, I cut off the edge bits. Someone else might be bolder, but at the time of tasting I didn’t want to tempt fate. I just wanted to eat some hopefully good cheese.

My desires were fulfilled when I took a nibble of the buttery center. Buttery is exactly the right word for the Taleggio Gusto Antico. I thought I was eating butter at one point. Or, rather, butter that I would want to eat plain. So smoothy and creamy, it doesn’t quite completely melt in your mouth. It exudes this buttery, nutty flavor mixture that has a sweet after note. It’s a subtle experience that feels almost decadent.

This isn’t a cheese review if I don’t remark on how well it goes with Dalmatia Fig Spread. With how many times I bring it up, you’d think I was being paid to, but no, it just goes well with so many different cheeses and the Taleggio Gusto Antico is not an exception. Not quite one, anyway. A little bit of jam and it mixed together brings out the cheese’s nutty notes and cuts the sweetness of the spread. Too much spread overpowers it. Too much, in my experimentation, seems to be anything more than a 3:1 ratio of cheese to spread. About a third works well.

And another critical part of my reviews: whether I’d recommend this cheese. I do! It’s a softer cheese in both flavor and body with a bounty of notes and nuances to be interesting. I’ve been getting into softer cheeses lately and this was another cheese that did not validate my old prejudices. Heartily recommend.