Avarizia is a washed-rind cow and buffalo milk cheese from De'Magi in Castiglion Fiorentino, Tuscany. The recipe uses less salt than most washed rinds, which lets the buffalo milk push through on the palate.

The rind is reddish, moist, and a little sticky, the kind that tells you the cheese has been properly tended in the cave. Under it the paste is straw-colored, semi-soft, and supple, with a buttery consistency that holds together under the knife but gives way the second it warms up. The nose is pungent, classic washed-rind territory, all mushroomy and earthy. The palate is rounder than the aroma suggests, with the buffalo cream lending a richness that softens the funk and the lower-salt approach keeping things from getting sharp. It's a good answer for someone who likes Taleggio but wants something with a little more cream behind it.

This is a serious washed-rind cheese with a velvet glove on it, intense where it needs to be, gentle where it counts.