Rose ValleyCheese Company

Rose Valley Cheese Company began in 1977 with one woman's dream and a suitcase of know-how: Loreta carried the craft of cheesemaking from her home town of Barrea, in the mountains of central Italy, to the Perth fringe at Hilbert. Nearly half a century on, the family operation still turns out an unashamedly Italian range — ricotta and mozzarella, fetta and parmesan, provole, romano, haloumi, stracchino and fresh farm cheese — with an insistence on keeping everything all-natural. It's the kind of maker whose ricotta becomes a household staple and whose counter draws cooks after the real thing, right down to the recipes they share for putting it to use. Open seven days from early morning on Wungong Road, it's a taste of southern Italy made on the far side of the world.