Robiola di Capra al Fico. Photo: Formaggio Kitchen.

Many cheeses, like St Pat and Hoja Santa, are covered in leaves to add a distinct herbal, sometimes earthy, taste. Wrapping cheese in leaves may seem gimmicky, but it can actually serve an essential role in developing the cheese's flavor. For instance, Robiola di Capra al Fico is a fresh Italian goat's milk cheese wrapped in fig leaves and exuding a citrus aroma.

The amount of time the cheese is aged in the leaves triggers the growth of certain molds and flavors. Coming from the Burrati family in Verbania, Italy, this incredibly milky tasting Robiola is not aged long enough for the fig leaves to create too pungent or too tart of a flavor. Instead, these bright-green leaves establish a mild acidity that beautifully balances the overwhelming creamy flavor and texture of the cheese.

Eating Robiola di Capra al Fico with its leaves adds an interesting complexity to the consistency; the cheese is almost like goat's-milk ice cream, and the leaves act as its cone. It really is that lusciously creamy! So make sure to save it for dessert.

While most varieties of Robiola imported from Italy, such as Robiola Bosina, are industrial (they almost have a synthetic texture and taste), this one is a farmhouse cheese, meaning the cheesemakers used the milk from their own farm. The particularly rich, smooth taste of Robiola di Capra al Fico belies the excellent quality of the goat's milk, clearly a result of dedicated cheesemakers.

Fortunately, this one-of-a-kind Robiola can be ordered nationwide by mail from Formaggio Kitchen. Or, in New York, you can head to Formaggio Essex. If its decadent appearance and exotic name are not enough to make you salivate, then, simply take a sniff and a bite.