GARDINER, NY- Family-owned Italian cheesemaker, Casa Del Caciocavallo,is teaming up with Whole Foods to offer its hand-rolled organic cheese available in the entire Northeast region.
Owners Fred and Cristina Destefano first opened their Gardiner, NY-based cheese business in 2003 and Fred has been making cheese alongside his mother, Maria Destefano, since he was a young boy, according to the New Paltz Times.
“My mother in-law didn’t like to see any milk go to waste, so she started making cheese with it,” said Cristina, who focuses on sales, publicity and marketing.
Caciocavallo is a traditional Italian cheese similar to a mild provolone or an aged mozzarella. The cheese is made with raw Jersey cow milk from a dairy farm in Kerhonkson.
They carry five flavors: traditional, garlic, hot pepper, black pepper and their newest addition, smoked. All of the spices and herbs are also grown locally and organic, and are mixed into the cheese before it is hung to age and dry so that the flavor is steeped into it.