La Stella Latticini 'Nodini'

Stretched curd
Cow's milk
Sydney
30g each
www.lastellalatticini.com.au

"Passion, as everyone knows, is red." That's the first thing you'll read when you open the La Stella Latticini website. "In our case, though, it's white."

My passion is finding beautiful new cheeses, and this is the first Nodini I've come across in NSW. They're "little knots" that fit in the palm of your hand, made in the same way as fresh mozzarella or bocconcini, but hand-tied into a knot instead of shaped into a ball.

La Stella Latticini
'Nodini'

I judged the Nodini at the Sydney Royal Cheese Show last month, and awarded them a gold medal, along with La Stella Latticini's beautiful burrata, and light-as-a-cloud ricotta.

It wasn't just the shape that caught my eye, but the beautifully fine filaments when I tore the knots apart. Fine filaments - like shredded, cooked chicken breast - are the mark of fine craftsmanship in stretched curd cheeses, and these are the finest I've seen in years. And the flavour was clean and sweet, and marvellously milky.

How to eat? Simply with cherry tomatoes, basil and olive oil, or with the Autumn bounty of fresh figs and a drizzle of pomegranate molasses.

Paesanella Ricotta

Fresh
Cow's milk
Sydney
1kg & 2kg baskets
www.paesanella.com.au

Paesanella means 'country peasant girl' in the Italian dialect of Umberto Somma, who founded Paesanella Cheese Manufacturers in 1962. That's right, 1962 - making them one of the first artisan cheese producers in NSW.

Paesanella Ricotta

It's fitting, then, that their flagship cheese is an ingenious peasant food. Ricotta - which means "re-cooked" in Italian - was originally created to ensure that nothing went to waste. In its most traditional form, ricotta is made from the whey left-over from making cheeses such as fresh mozzarella, the other signature cheese from Paesanella. Traditional whey ricotta has a very light texture and a flavour reminiscent of egg white, or albumen.

Most modern ricotta in Australia, including Paesanella's, is now produced with whole milk, rather than left-over whey. The best examples still achieve the texture of the traditional style, but the flavour is more milky and less eggy.

You can still buy fresh Paesanella ricotta in the basket - still warm if you get there early enough - from the Marrickville factory, every morning except Saturdays. Spread some on fruit toast and drizzle with honey for the perfect cheesy breakfast.