Meet Tomino. It is an Italian cow's milk cheese of the bloomy-rind variety, similar to Brie and Camembert. However, apparently, after some research, I found that this Tomino cheese is strictly for cooking. Naturally, you can imagine my frustration after eating way too much Indian food and then finding out that I need to cook.

So, I plopped the cheese on the skillet as I was told, melting both sides. Some people even wrap the Tomino in pancetta or prosciutto—pretty much anything that resembles bacon works well. Most people eat this cheese with a salad and nuts, or with bread. 

My next problem, was that despite a recorded 1 hour of research, it seemed as though no one could really offer me an idea of what kind of wine to drink with this cheese. So, I took a step back and considered, what kind of cheese is this and what wines pair well with other, similar cheeses.

Because Tomino is a cow's milk, creamy cheese like Brie and Camembert, I decided to go with a medium red wine, the classic of which being Merlot. However, the caveat is that red wine does not really mix well with rinds, as it produces a bitter flavor—but, as you can see in the next picture, my rind more or less disappeared.

Regardless, I still had a bitter, very dry taste while tasting this cheese with the wine. The cheese is rather greasy, and also kind of nutty, so in actuality it's not very similar to Brie or Camembert, despite it's composition and appearance. I would actually liken the flavor, at least in it's melted state to something like a cheddar, but with the dry/saltiness of an Asiago.

I imagine Tomino is a great cheese to eat at a restaurant, but preparing it yourself might be too much work for the occasional cheese-eater. Also, I'm pretty sure that Merlot was probably not the best choice—but, I'm not really a sommelier. I kind of would have liked to try it with a white wine, like a Chardonnay or a Sauvignon Blanc.