Bris, Brôs, Brüs, Brussu

This cheese is a speciality of Piedmont, made with a variety of cheeses that are cut up into small pieces and then put into a jar to ferment for a few days. After this time, grappa is added to the jar and this is then left to age for couple of weeks to make a creamy cheese for spreading on bread or polenta. Because it is a preparation made by individual families, there is a great deal of variation of the exact recipe, with the addition of other flavourings like oil, pepper, wine and chilli. I think that the sharp tang of this cheese has been deliberately created so that it has to be washed down with the local wines, Barolo or Barbera.