"Tired" and delicious

One of the local cheeses from Lombardy, called Taleggio, was simply known as "stracchino" for centuries, which means "tired" or "exhausted." This is because the cows, though they were worn out by their long trip from the Alpine pastures to the valley plains, were still able to produce milk fit for making cheese. The final product is creamy, but not runny, and has a pleasant, yeasty flavor. It is made in large squares, not rounds, and has a thin, pinkish rind. This Taleggio Viversano was great with fresh bread and the arugula salad I made yesterday for lunch. The cheese is produced in Como, where I'm staying, and also in Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona and Milan. In some places it is still called stracchino. The wine is a wonderful, medium-bodied red called Yantra from the Maremma region of Tuscany. It's a combination of malbec, merlot and cabernet sauvignon grapes.