Sottocenere

oil on wood, 8x10"

Sottocenere, original artwork by Mike Geno

From the Cheese Portraits series.

This Italian cheese, Sottocenere (soh-toh-CHEN-er-eh), is a commissioned sellection that I found to be deliciously subtle and yet indulgent, a typical truffle effect in my opinion.

Made with raw cow's milk and aged about 100 days, Sottocenere is studded with bits of black truffle and rubbed externally with truffle oil and the gray ash coating in the rind includes nutmeg, cloves, coriander, cinnamon, licorice and fennel.

The challenge was to take a relatively simple cheese that's basically smooth and white and show some of it's change of surface. The light goes from cool and bright to warm and milky -slightly- darker. With a request of bright colors, I went with a sunny environment that complimented the conservative model.

Origin: Italy

Availability: sold