Imokilly Regato

Imokilly Regato is an Irish hard PDO cheese made from cow's milk in south-east County Cork. It is a wheel with convex edges and a Celtic cord pattern embossed on its faces. The colour runs from straw-yellow to golden-cream, the taste is rounded and piquant, and maturation typically takes 9–12 months.

The milk comes only from cows grazing in the baronies of Imokilly, Fermoy and Muskerry, from about March to October. It is aged for 12–18 hours, and the starter and rennet were developed at the Mogeely dairy for this cheese. The curd is cut very finely and salted twice: in brine, then dry-salted by hand. The body is well-knit and firm, sometimes with a few eyes.

The cheese was developed on trial in the late 1970s and made in commercial quantities from 1980; Imokilly Co-operative was formed in 1930. The applicant is the Dairygold co-operative (Dairygold Mogeely), County Cork. According to the application, the monks of Fermoy and Cloyne once made cheese locally, and the cheese has a sweet, piquant aroma.

Why it matters to you: look for the name Imokilly Regato with the PDO logo. It is a long-matured cheese, so its flavour is deeper than that of young hard cheeses.