Il Casaro

Worst part of cheese making is having to wear those silly hair nets. Best part is you get to make your own cheese! Tucked away in Glenfield’s industrial area (just off Wairau Road) is Il Casaro — the brainchild of one very passionate cheese maker, a third generation from Puglia. He mostly supplies the restaurant trade, but can also be found in Farro. In groups of 10 or more, you learn how to ever so gently turn a simple bowl of the finest milk (sourced from a seaside farm) into a soft, fresh cheese. You can really see the difference, each cheese is unique. Afterwards a visit to the cheese room and a tasting of all the cheeses for sale. Smokey mozzarellas, provolone, mascarpone, a creamy blue and the day we visited a cheese marinated in red grapes. How exciting to cut open a cheese and taste the first results of a new technique. All the cheeses are available to buy in 100g or more. Great fun and gives you an appreciation for how much goes into a good cheese.

There’s nothing cheesy about this place. Masimilliano brings his family’s best secrets from Puglia to New Zealand. From his humble kitchen, he produces an impressive variety including provolone, ricotta, burrito, mascarpone, smoked mozzarella blue cheese. He even experiments with wine infused cheese! If you fancy a great afternoon, attend one of his cheese making classes where you can learn to make a basic cheese, mozzarella or mascarpone. Email him at
. Otherwise look for his products at Farro supermarkets.

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. That was us with the smiles on our face as we took home our 300+ gm handmade cheese made by my very own hand.
Il Casaro Cheesemaking class was my highlight for my week after being stuck at home sick. Massimiliano was great value and a master cheesemaker that I would recommend you go and visit next time you want some good quality handmade cheese at a great price.
His class (the cheese template) was a great class and will be quickly followed up with the Mozarella class in a few weeks by my group. He’s very informative — giving you history of where he’s from and the family business back at home in Puglia, Italy to where the milk comes from here in Tauranga, NZ.
At the end you get to try 6 cheeses — smoked Mozarella, grape infused cheese, Provolone, Burata, Stracchino and finally Mascarpone.
Email Marzia if you want to take one of their great classes. This would also be great for a Company team building event.