About our cheeses
At least once a year Filippo goes zooming on his motorbike across Italy in search of new cheeses.
We only buy from approved establishments that guarantee the highest manufacturing/maturation standards combined with the most superb organoleptic properties. Hygiene and taste are our main parameters for choosing/selecting our cheese suppliers.
Asiago Crosta Nera
Asiago is one of the most well known D.O.P. Italian cheeses. Try the one we sell and compare it to any other available in the UK or Italy and you will understand what a difference it makes when a cheese is produced exclusively with milk from selected farms close to the cheese production premises (Pre-Alpe Vicentine). The production method is deeply rooted in the old local tradition and the results after 5 weeks of maturation is of a cheese fresh and flavoursome. I immediately think of butter with a hint of yogurt. What a difference from the mass-produced Asiago.
Double Barrel Lincolnshire Poacher
Well …. Cheese Teller is not just about Italian cheese ….. so what’s special about this one?
In my humble opinion this is the best English cheddar there is! Tim and Jeremy specially select Lincolnshire Poacher forms to be matured for at least 24 months resulting in the richer and tastier Double Barrel Poacher. You will be amazed at how different the cheese can taste depending on which day of the year it is produced. Filippo has selected a particular batch which struck his tastebuds as particularly good: 18th March 2013! This batch has been reserved for us and is the one we are selling at the moment.
Parmigiano Reggiano
“Parmesan is just parmesan” how many times have I heard those words? Our Parmesan is produced on a family farm at 1000 mt Passo della Gastrello in the hills of Reggio Emilia and matured for approximately 36 months. The husbandry of the animals, the environment where they forage, the artistry of the cheese-maker, the location of the maturation are the ingredients of this cheese. On my motorbike journey I purchase small quantities of parmesan from different producers and in the evening, in the quietness of my accommodation and in the company of a glass of local red wine I taste them and choose the one! The next day it’s back to that producer to make the purchase. Hard work but somebody has to do it!
Cuore di Pane di Capra
The recipe of this 100% goat’s milk cheese goes back to the15th century and it is perhaps the oldest recorded Italian cheese recipe. It is aromatic, fruity and still delicate to your palate. A goat cheese should never taste of a goat farmyard!
Parma Ham
At our stall we also have a small selection of cured meats. The Parma Ham depicted here comes from Traversetolo, a small village on the outskirts of Parma and is produced by the Pelacci family. I have been very lucky to visit him for well over 10 years and since the first time we met I have only ever stocked his Parma Ham. Giuliano Pelacci is one of the few who still manually add salt to each individual pork leg (his argument is that “each leg has a different fat content and will require a different amount of salt”). This is a business relationship that has grown into a friendship. We share a passion for good food and motorbike travel and his ham is the best I ever tasted.
The Cheese Teller Story…
In 2004 Filippo left his scientific career (http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Filippo_Volpe) to start Eat Drink Ideas, importing wine, cheese and cured meats from Italy. It couldn’t end in any other way but to follow his life-long passion for good food. “It was a bet that I haven’t regretted to date”.
In 2001-2009 Filippo got involved in the SlowFood (SF) movement and started a SF convivium / chapter in Hertfordshire. It was his way to share the passion, knowledge and culinary skills that his friends, from Sicily to Scotland, have enjoyed but was also to influence the most important of human activities; eating. “Indeed retrospectively thinking I have come to the conclusion that I have touched more deeply the hearts and minds of my human fellows with my cooking than with scientific papers”. In 2008 Mary (Filippo’s wife) also abandoned her scientific career and joined Filippo in this food adventure.
Of course things have changed a bit over this 11-year journey; Cheese Teller has become a more appropriate name, but we haven’t lost our focus and soul of the original idea: making a difference. We do not sell what sells; we only sell products we believe in. It doesn’t make us rich but it makes us happy and we hope our food will bring some of this happiness to your table.
Where to find us
St Albans Market
Every Saturday 9am-4pm AL3 5DG (High street, outside Cafe Nero)
Van Hage Farmers Market
nr Ware; 1st Thursday 9am-1pm SG12 9RP
Hertford Farmers market
2nd Saturday 8am-2pm SG14 1DG
Impington Farmers market
3rd Saturday 9am-1pm CB4 9LX (Impington Village College)
Hatfield House Farmers market (Stable Yard)
3rd Sunday 9am-2pm - Click to watch video
Woolmer Green Farmers market
4th Sunday 9am-1pm SG3 6XA
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