Montebore

First recorded in the 12th century, and the hit of the Isabella of Aragon and Gian Galeazzo Sforza's wedding banquet in 1489, this unusual cheese from Montébore in the province of Alessandria was forgotten by 1982, but revived in 1997 by Maurizo Fava who sought out Carolina Branca, the last living person who knew how to make it. The story goes it was Leonardo da Vinci's favourite cheese (his rival Michelangelo preferred Urbino's casciotta).

Montebore is made from cow's milk, or a mix of cow's and ewe's milk, pressed into different sized moulds, and then stacked three high to form a mini-castle. The flavour is delicate in young cheeses, becoming saltier and more savoury in aged ones.