Castelrosso is a semi-hard cow's milk cheese from Piedmont in northern Italy, also known locally as toma brusca, the "acid cheese." Made from pasteurized milk of Pezzata Rossa cows, the recipe is built around a higher natural acidity, which is where the name and the whole character of the cheese come from.
The paste is dense and chewy, breaking in short flakes under the knife rather than slicing clean, with a gray natural rind that ripens the wheel from the outside in. Closer to the rind you get more earthy, mushroomy notes and a softer texture, while the center stays firmer, chalkier, and more tangy. On the palate it leads with that bright lactic tang up front, then pulls into an earthy middle with a light peppery lift on the finish.
This is a proper regional Piedmont cheese, the kind of everyday toma that locals shave over warm salads or fold into pasta, but it holds its own on a board next to bigger, more famous northern Italian wheels. If you like your cheeses with a real acid backbone rather than the sweet nutty side of things, Castelrosso sits right in that lane.
Real reviews from The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills Google Business Profile. Curated by Dom and his team since 1967.
Domenico and his team are fantastic. I’m a chef and I often get my supplies from The Cheese Store — unique products, carefully selected, from top Italian and French cheeses to excellent local ones.
Absolutely loved the cheese store! Everyone was super helpful and friendly. Lena helped us — she was very knowledgeable on all the cheeses: where they came from, what the region is like, what they are known for. It was like wine tasting for cheese.
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