Coveted cheese

It never ceases to amaze me how much of a difference locally grown, organic and in-season items affect the flavor of a dish. Embracing the Slow Food movement in stride, Chef Jeff Finch at Trulli Flatbread has harnessed the powerful taste of local foods, showcasing them in the restaurant’s dishes.

When I first entered the restaurant, I was greeted with the ambiance of a large, domed, crackling fireplace, which I later learned was the trulli in which the flatbreads and pizzas are cooked. What are trulli, you ask? Trulli are small structures with conical roofs, a type of house, built in the Middle Ages in a select few towns in Italy. The glowing fireplace – essentially a simple brick oven – that I was basking in was a replica of the ones prominent in Italian trulli.

Due to my overzealous spending during spring break, I was on a budget. So I bypassed the delicious-sounding appetizers and salads, though I coveted the “local artisan cheese plate” for $9.

I went instead with the cheapest entree item on the menu – a panini. It is true that paninis are notoriously easy to make. Panini makers are available anywhere from Wal-Mart to Target to Sam’s Club. You can pretty much slap anything in your fridge between two slices of Wonder Bread, press it for a few seconds, and bam! A panini!
Trulli Flatbread’s paninis, however, are on another level if not a pedestal.

The panini I ordered was only $7.75, and it included a genius mix of roasted red peppers, grilled Portobello mushrooms, arugula and the best herb goat cheese I have ever tasted. In fact, if I had to choose one item to live off of for the rest of my life, it would be this goat cheese. I had to discover its origins. The answer, it turns out, is right in southern Indiana. Capriole, Inc. Farms is a local family-run business that specializes in making goat cheese. And much to my glee, it can be bought daily at Bloomingfoods and at the Bloomington Winter Farmers Market every Saturday.

Together, the tang of the goat cheese, the peppery bitterness of the arugula and the sweet spice of the red peppers combined with the myriad of textures from the grilled mushroom and the crust of the rustic bread. Served with a refreshing small side salad, I had found the quintessential, perfect lunch, much better than any Wonder Bread concoction could have created.

I wish I could have tried the pizza-like, oven-baked flatbread the restaurant is named after, especially the one with grilled chicken, garlic, spinach, herbs, that famous goat cheese, mushrooms and mozzarella, but at $12.50 for a small, I will have to save that lunch meal for more prosperous times.