A Filetta

The A Filetta cheese is a soft, washed rind cheese from Corsica. It is made using raw milk from twenty or so small breeders of the eastern side of the island.

The milk comes from herds of goats raised in very rustic conditions, and are semi-wild animals. They feed on the scrublands, and their milk is very perfumed, which comes through in the cheese. The small cheese dairy is managed by Laurence Mattei in Isolaccio, situated 45km south of Bastia.

The name of the cheese means ‘la fougère’ in French, ‘fern’ in English, because the cheese is usually decorated with a fern leaf, the symbol of its Corsican identity.

A Filetta is made between mid-October and the end of June and is matured for 4 to 6 weeks. Its taste is reminiscent of the diverse scrubland of Corsica.

This cheese is delicious accompanied by fig jam.