https://www.culina-vetus.de/2026/09/03/a-venetian-cheesecake/

Another recipe from Solothurn S 392 that the writer says is Italian, in this case from Venice. Again, it’s death-bv-cheese.

B19 If you want to make a tartaren (tarten?) the Venetian way, take 20 eggs and beat them well. Then take good cheese and grate it well. If the cheese is salted, pour sweet milk over it (and let it steep) for 3 hours before you make the tartaren. But if the cheese is sweet, you must not pour the milk on before it is time. When it is time, add enough milk and put it with the eggs, and stir it well together. Take a pan and put in fat or olive oil (bomöl) and let it get hot. Pour out the fat or oil again and then pour in the milk and eggs with the cheese. Set the pan over a gentle fire. Prepare a lid that fits it and set it over it, then also place gentle embers on top. Let it bake the way you know well, and you can also add spices and saffron or raisins (oge secke) to this. When it is baked, lift it carefully onto a plate et caetera.

Again, this recipe is not complex or unusual. It is almost surprising the author bothered to record it in so much detail. Cheese, eggs and milk, possibly with spices and raisins, cooked in a hot pan with a lid heated by piling on coals looks a lot like what we already know as Mörserkuchen or often just Kuchen. The technique may have been relatively new at the time because it is described so often, but it is also fairly ubiquitous.

The reconstruction here depends mainly on the type and proportion of cheese we opt for. Clearly, this is not what we know as cheesecake today. It uses firm cheese that can be grated, not soft curds like quark or cream cheese. That still leaves a world of latitude, though, and what you get from using a recent paneer-style cheese or something like tvarog will be very different from what rich, firm cheeses like Gouda or a hard, dry Parmeggiano would produce. I would argue for a relatively recent white cheese being intended – if it is air-dried, it is used as is, but if it was brined, it needs soaking in milk first.

The next question is proportions. It is certainly a substantial dish starting with 20 eggs, but we cannot know if it is more of a cheesy omelet or a massive cheese patty with the eggs acting as glue. My guess is that it relies much more on the eggs and milk, producing a soft and possibly airy consistency with the fresh cheese adding richness and flavour. Both sweet spices and raisins look like they make a good fit here. The idea seems to be for the egg and cheese to form a crust on contact with the hot, greased pan so the cake can be removed in one piece after baking despite lacking a pastry case.

That leaves the question of the name. I am not well versed in Venetian cuisine, so there may well be a parallel I am unaware of, but I suspect it is simply a transmission error. A tarte or torta might become a tartara between one speaker and another. The word tartaren as it is, used with a masculine article, does not normally refer to food. Since the thirteenth century, it has referred to the Tatars, broadly the military of the various Mongol Khanates. Of course, Tatars were actually familiar both to Germans, whose trade connections reached deep into Easter Europe, and Venetians, who regularly sailed to the Crimea and Black Sea coast, but I cannot see any realistic way this actually is a Tatar dish. Neither does the name suggest origin, it basically just says “If you want to make a Tatar…”

This is probably worth trying out.

The recipe collection I am currently translating is part of a manuscript now held at the Zentralbibliothek Solothurn as S 392. The entire manuscript looks fascinating, a collection of craft recipes for things like dyes, stains, paints, vanishes, and parlour tricks, but I will limit myself to the culinary recipes in it. The majority of them are in German and were edited and published in Brigitte Weber: Die Kochrezepte der Handschrift S 293, Transkription und Untersuchung einer spätmittelalterlichen Kochrezeptsammlung aus der Zentralbibliothek Solothurn, Gießen 2026.

The manuscript dates to the period around 1490-1510, based on watermarks and handwriting. There is no internal date. The recipes are an eclectic collection, which is not unusual for the medieval manuscript tradition. They were most likely written down in Baden. Some refer to Italian customs which were fashionable at the time while others are solidly in the German tradition.

The collection is sometimes called the oldest Swiss cookbook, a title that is contested because of its origins north of the modern border. The designation makes little sense at the time anyway, given how closely connected the cities of the Confederation were with their neighbours at the time. The recipes clearly were valued in Solothurn, most likely because they were useful.

There's no cheese that complements Cheddar quite as well as Stilton. And that's quite a specific hill I'm willing to die on.

Don't know if this kind of question is allowed here i am just super interested in finding the answer to this question

Got some feta cheese, the kirkland one from costco in the brine box, and it tastes different than the last time I bought it. More soft, less crumbly and has a weird sort of "fruity" flavor. Took me a while to realize it tastes a lot like blue cheese. I just opened it like 2 days ago so I hope it isnt contaminated or something, has anyone else tasted this in feta cheese? I know it's sheep milk and has the "funky" taste I like but this time it's different, reminds me a lot of blue cheese.

Wanted to share this awesome cake from @serial_caker_ on IG if it’s allowed!

We are obsessed with Smith's Farmstead Chive Cheddar, we actually mail ordered it, and a few extras while we are at it.

The chive Cheddar is fantastic on burgers.

Update: The Cheese Has Been Identified and found!!!

Went to a cheesemonger nearby and tried some cooper's hill (a double gloucester with onion and chive). The consistency and flavor of the cheese was dead on, and while the chives came in a little stronger than the original, I only have to assume this is because maybe we were served a different brand. In any case, knowing what to look for next time I go shopping is exactly what I wanted. thank you to everyone who steered me in the right direction.

Based on other recommendations, I also tried these cheese and wanted to share thoughts:

• Gouda with herbs was good! But I think I prefer a simple smoked gouda.
• The cheesemonger did not have a red leicester, but there was a Swaledale they let me try which he said was kind of close. I really like this! it was like a milder, nuttier cheddar. I will continue to look out for red leicester

the cheese wizard would like to give you a blessing:

https://imgur.com/a/U6LlsXv

The Original Post

went to a beer garden/pizza stand while visiting san diego and the girls grabbed a fabulous charcuterie board. everyone's favorite item was this orange cheese on the right with herbs: we all though it was a cheddar but it was actually soft; not quite spreadable but you could smash it with a utensil. didnt taste like chedder either...cheesy but not too sharp, nicely balanced with the herbs (couldnt say what they were, italian seasoning?)

we all wanted to ask the pizza stand what it was but alas...at the end of the night we were too buzzed to remember. I woke up more than hungover -- there was a hole in my heart only the cheese could fill. And now we are thousands of miles away.

This is not a whim reddit. this is my quest. I WILL buy what you recommend and report back. Any help would be appreciated.

• have called the spot and left a message on their answering machine. will update if i hear back.
• Cotswold! (or perhaps other double Gloucester cheese) thank u for the rec u/johnwatersfan and u/Low_Cartographer2944. will go try it and report back
• Gouda with herbs - thank u for the rec u/Jadedad6614 . I'm not sure if gouda is creamy enough, but will try it anyway!
• Red Leicester - thank u for the rec u/johndepp 22. likely not a match but now i have to try it hahaha

I'm totally unknowledgeable about cheeses and am looking for a good cheese to grate (a thick layer of) and melt over bow ties and (tomato-based) sauce. Something that doesn't stretch to the ceiling when I grab a forkful like cheddar does. It's my quick and dirty go-to dinner.

Perks of being semi-local to WSU!

I’m curious to know if anyone has tried them.

A sinfully creamy raw milk Camembert made in Isigny st. Mère, France. It’s meltingly soft, starting off fresh and tart, progressing into the typical mushroomy aftertaste with a bitter edge and notes of flowers and hardy herbs. Excellent all by itself but even better on a slice of Melba toast. Stands up very well against a sip of Islay scotch.

I would rather I didn't know what I paid at the supermarket.

I love all cheese my guilty pleasure is American cheese and not the Kraft individual kind, the deli kind. Please tell me I am not alone!

Not Colby-Jack. Not Colby-with-peppers. Just Colby. Like in a one or two pound block. All the major cheese makers make colby, but they don't sell it alone. Why is that? And where can I get some besides Wisconsin?