Profile By: Marcella Wright, ACS CCP™
With the Super Bowl right around the corner, I thought I would profile a Cheese Spread that I found on Hilton Head Island when I was there last month.
In the early 1930’s Danny and Joe Di Bruno immigrated to America looking for streets paved with gold. They found cobblestones, but they brought with them the willingness to work hard and in 1939, the two brothers opened a grocery market on 9th Street in Philadelphia’s Italian Market. Their success and their entrepreneurial spirit spurred them to re-invent their shop into a gourmet cheese shop in 1965. They added some of the great European cheeses, cured meats and other foods that paired well with cheese and meat. In 1990, the brothers retired and turned the family business over to three of their grandchildren, Billy Jr., Bill and Emilio; three cousins with college and culinary degrees. In 2006, Di Bruno Brothers was named NASFT “Gourmet Retailer of the Year” and in 2013, with Tenaya Darlington, they published “Di Bruno Bros. House of Cheese: A Guide to Wedges, Recipes and Pairings”. (I have it on my Kindle and refer to it at least once a day.) You can buy the book at amazon.com.
The three cousins continued to expand their brand and part of that expansion included creating lines of gourmet food stuffs — and one of those is cheese spreads. The flavor I found at Hilton Head Island is made with cheddar cheese, horseradish and bacon… lots of horseradish… The cheddar cheese and smoky bacon flavors are the first sensations you taste when enjoying this spread. And then the horseradish kicks in and lingers. On their website, it is called “powerful” and that is a correct assessment. I love this spread but if you aren’t a big fan of horseradish, you might want to venture slowly into this spread. It is very creamy, even when cold, and spreads beautifully on crackers. It’s a “Super” addition to your Super Bowl festivities.
I also used it as the basis for a grilled cheese which I made with thick bacon… holy smokes… I served it with creamy tomato soup… Peter, my husband, swooned…
The spread is handmade in small batches and if not available at your local specialty cheese shop, you can order it or several other flavors on the Di Bruno Brothers website.
Please visit my website at marcellathecheesemonger.