Tasting locally produced cheese from Kobayashi City (Miyazaki Pref.)

When I visited the island of Kyushu for the first time one year ago, I literally fell in love with it.

So now every time I see the possibility to get to know Kyushu and/or support local businesses, I get very excited!

And this was the case when I got the occasion to taste some locally produced cheese from Kobayashi City.

I visited Miyazaki Prefecture once, but unfortunately I didn’t have the chance to visit that specific area, but I would like to put it on my “place to visit” list for the future.

They are doing a very good job in promoting the city, with some very clear and attractive websites available in English, French and German (and of course Japanese)

I love hiking and nature, and in Kyushu you can see the fascinating results of the volcanic activity that helped forming the island. How can you not be attracted by such beautiful scenarios?

So it was that a few weeks ago I received a tasting box of local cheese and dairy products.

The producer is Daiwa Farm and it included two yogurt drinks, in a very cute packaging, a mozzarella cheese, and two other types of cheese, a hard one and a creamy one.

I am Italian, so when you say cheese to me, the party is on.

It is difficult to find cheese in Japan that tastes like the European kinds, so I think I can speak for all my fellow Italians in Japan saying that it is tough to live without good cheese when you grew up eating it.

First, the yogurt.

It was a very nice yogurt, without any added sugar, but still not very acidic. The consistency was quite thick, so I think it could also be poured in a bowl and eaten with the spoon, maybe after having mixed it with some fresh fruit or cereals.

I drank it directly from the little bottle, while picking at some fresh blueberries.

Then, the mozzarella. And you can imagine my expectations were quite high, being a product so typical of my home country.

The taste was very good, I decided to prepare it in a classical style, with some tomato, olive oil and oregano.

The soft cheese had a taste very similar to another Italian cheese called “taleggio”, and it had a creamy texture, so that I ate it by itself, with some slices of a homemade zucchini and pea bread.

The plain taste of the zucchini bread turned out perfect to enjoy the stronger flavour of the cheese.

And last, but not least, I tried the hard cheese.

It has a plain taste, so I think it is a product that could be used for various recipes and can be also enjoyed by itself, which is what I did.

I once prepared a sandwich with it, adding some purple radish and pear “mostarda” (pickled candied fruit in a spicy syrup, which I brought from Italy in one my last trips there).

I was very happy and satisfied after having tried all these products from Daiwa Farm, and I will be happy to purchase their dairy products when I get crave for good cheese. I think they did a good job in realizing products that taste good and legit.

Thank you very much for the opportunity, and I hope I will have occasion to visit Kobayashi city on my next trip to Miyazaki Prefecture!

This post is supported by Kobayashi City Promotion Company Inc., one of City-Cost's Supporters helping City-Cost bloggers to enjoy life in Japan and engage in new experiences.