Cheese on Parade

It's not weird to want to visit a city specifically to go to a specific cheese shop, is it?

Concord, Mass is home to the Concord Cheese Shop, which has been hosting the Crucolo Cheese Parade the first Thursday of every December. This year, that's today, Dec. 7. This is the parade's eight year.

A 400-pound wheel of Crucolo Cheese, which is a young Italian Asiago, arrives by horse-drawn carriage. The cheese is accompanied, as well it should be, by singers, dancers and musicians. It travels along a red carpet strewn with roses.

The event is free and followed by free samples of the cheese. After that, the Crucolo is offered for sale. The store's owners say that they run out of the full stock in about two weeks every year.

Attendees at last year's event characterize the cheese as both sharp and creamy, with a cheddar-like taste. I haven't had luck finding Crucolo cheese locally yet. So, for now, a tasting will have to wait.