Lucy’s August 2026 Cheese of the Month: Robiola ‘tre latti’

Medhi, on Gastronomica Market stall, brings this cheese every month to Cheesewick. It’s not seasonal in the fact that it is only made at certain times of the year, it is made all year round, but what makes this cheese exceptional at this time of the year is beautifully fragrant summer milks (this cheese is only 15 days old when we see it at the market).

Eligio Castagna started making cheeses from ancient recipes in the Piedmont region of Italy over 60 years ago and now the dairy, run by his son, Guiseppe continues to make cheeses using only the best local milk from animals reared in unspoilt valleys and mountains in the Piedmont, using methods that take time and old-fashioned hands-on skills.

Robiola cheese is a style that has many variants depending on the milk used (can be cow, sheep, goat or a combination of any of those three) and very different depending on its age. A small round cheese with a delicate wriggly rind. It has a dense buttery texture when it is fresh with a citrus milky flavour but as it ages it becomes oozy and unctuous with more robust mushroomy, nutty farmyard flavours.

I adore goat and sheep cheeses, but I know this is not everyone’s cup of tea. This unique cheese made from a combination of cow, goat and sheep milks, seems to me to answer my desire for the distinct flavours I love, whilst blending them with the full fat, rich cows’ milk, making it a much easier cheese for those who don’t think they like the taste of goat milk. You simply must have a go, even if you are not a goats’ cheese lover!

At this time of year, the cheeses start to get richer as the milking season progresses (milk can be richer towards the end of the milking season as babies start to eat the grass and come to Mum for extra nourishment rather than an entire meal – less volume more intense goodness). It is this richness combined with the outdoor pastures that make this cheese so special now. The second reason is that I think these soft lactic set cheeses are a joy in this hot weather. Soft and spreadable on crackers or even with raw vegetables they can be part of the ultimate ‘picky-bits’ platter. I always buy two of these and start one almost as soon as we’ve packed the market away, but I keep one carefully stored in my wine fridge (about 9C) for a couple of weeks until it starts to ripen and I can feel it oozing inside its wrapper. Then I open a bottle of fizz. I simply adore the combination of this indulgent, creamy, rich cheese mixed with the bubbles on my tongue. Sometimes pairing is not just about the flavour – sometimes it is about the satisfaction of the texture combination created and this is one I thoroughly recommend.

Made by The Castagna Dairy, Piedmont, Italy
Milk: Three types – cow, sheep and goats