Meet the Melbourne cheesemaker passionate about local milk

Say cheese. That’s Amore Cheese combines traditional Italian recipes with locally sourced milk to produce fine soft-curd cheeses.Beyond the baby bocconcini and pecorino you might have drooled over at your local deli, he also makes chilli caciotta, smoked ovoline and caciocavallo among many others, all in Thomastown. Migrating to Melbourne in 2004, then unable to speak English, Giorgio Linguanti began working for a cheese factory, instilling in him a passion for cheese and quality, locally produced food, ultimately prompting him to start a business himself. Established in 2008, That’s Amore Cheese rapidly grew into an award-winning business.Giorgio's cheese graced the table at our Urban Forage and Feast, an incredible crowd sourced dinner that highlighted local Melbourne producers. So we thought we'd have a quick catch up and share his love of cheese with the rest of our community.What path led you to this industry or the start of your business?When I migrated to Melbourne and without a word of English, I got a job in a cheese factory where my interest and passion for making cheese ignited. It looked challenging!What would you like our community of eaters to know?I put a lot of passion in what I do, our artisan cheese is handmade using milk sourced locally from Victorian farmers. It's essential to use the best quality milk to create genuine cheese, free from artificial colours or preservatives.What motivates you to invest time and effort into maintaining values such as local food, sustainability, provenance or social impact? The love that I have for cheese and the respect that I have for local farmers motivates me everyday in investing in local milk and creating a genuine product.Subscribe to hear from more of the producers and backyard farmers from this incredible volunteer-powered event!A big thank you to our Melbourne volunteers Jasmine Chan, Kyra Hewitt and Alan Bechaz for bringing us this series. 

Images from That's Amore Cheese.