EMILIO’S CHEESE

A Story from Italy to Canterbury

On the first day Sam took bagels to the Riccarton Market in 2013, before Grizzly even became “Grizzly,” just a few metres away the Emilio’s Cheese stall sold a variety of cheeses with a story. Emilio himself, living with his family between Rolleston and Kirwee, is an Italian cheesemaker from the district of Brescia in Lombardy. When his family immigrated to New Zealand in 2005, he followed a dream of using his expertise to create a cheesemaking business out of the best New Zealand milk he could get his hands on. With a degree in Agricultural Science, several courses in cheesemaking, and experience working in an Italian cheese factory producing the varieties Italy is famous for, he started a business here that has become synonymous with some of the greatest cheese Canterbury can offer. 

Nestled in the foothills of the Italian Alps, the temperate climate, moderate rainfall, and regular sunshine in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy make the rolling hills ideal for dairy farming, leaving the region home to some of the most celebrated cheese making traditions in the world. And while Southern Italy is famous for its tomatoey pastas and steamed seafood, the dishes of the North often incorporate some of the most exquisite dairy products on the market—think delicate pastas stuffed with soft cheese or a sticky risotto with wild mushrooms and aged Pecorino. The uniquenesses of the food from this region are inevitably shaped by thousands of years of tradition, access to fertile soil, and a temperate climate.

Notably, also with a temperate climate, moderate rainfall and regular sunshine, sits our own region of Canterbury, with a mere 3° difference in latitude from Lombardy (just on the bottom half of the globe). Nearly two decades after following his dream in New Zealand, you’ll find Emilio transforming the dairy of this region into award-winning cheese that he and his family continue to sell at markets all around Christchurch. Out of respect for the traditional cheeses of Europe, Emilio’s cheeses are not called by the same name as their original counterparts. Instead, each name reflects the novelty of the cheese made exclusively with New Zealand ingredients (i.e. “Alpino” for his Swiss-style cheese, “Alpeggio” for the Taleggio-style cheese, “Bosco” for a small wheel similar to Brie, etc.). His selection of cow, sheep, and goat cheeses speak to a level of skill and a genuine passion for making extraordinarily good products. 

All these years later, both Grizzly and Emilio’s can still be found every Saturday at the Riccarton Market, and when the Grizzly menu expanded to include sandwiches, choosing Emilio’s as a supplier was a no-brainer. So whether it’s our Cheese Toastie at the Welder or the Mushroom Melt on the weekends, you can count on the deliciousness coming in part from the hands of Emilio himself.