THE YELLOWS COME TO THE DAIRY D&D
The yellows arrive is an initiative promoted by ANFOSC – National Cheese Association Under the Sky which for some years has involved farms, caseifici, gastronomy and agritourisms in order to enhance the cheeses produced exclusively with milk from grazing animals.
For the year 2020 the date of the 21 giugno, summer solstice, because in this period there is availability of grazing cheeses throughout Italy.
We have decided to participate in the event organized by Caseificio D&D of Calitri, in Upper Irpinia.
The Dairy D&D
The city of Calitri is the convergence point of three regions: Campania, Basilicata and Puglia; it is in fact more or less equidistant - about eighty kilometers - from Avellino, Potenza and Foggia.
The territory is hilly, a circa 700 meters of altitude. Its characteristic is the wind, strong and steady, so much so that a wind farm has been installed in the area for years. Precisely for this peculiarity, in these parts it is possible to grow only cereals and fodder.
La storia del Caseificio D&D dates back to the 90s, when the Di Cecca family began with the collection of cow's milk and then moved on to the production of cheese. About twenty local milk companies, all small or medium.
The first company dairy was located in Contrada Serra Ferrara, then the production was moved along the Ofantina state road.
The old factory has thus become The barn, a structure in green building where only aging is done.
The visit to the stable
Our educational day led by the Hospitality Manager Emma Basile began with a visit to Vincenzo Tornillo's farm, one of the milk donors of Dairy D&D.
All the stables in the area have more or less the same requirements: about twenty items, mixed breeds (in this case mestizos, mix of meat and dairy breeds), medium-low milk production, feeding of animals with forage of own production in winter (hay, barley, avena, more corn purchased externally because in this area it is not possible to produce) and grazing more or less from March to October, depending on the temperatures of the vintage. During this period the animal eats a lot of grass, and of various types. Consequently, the milk will have a greater aromatic intensity and a more yellowish color.
In these realities there is no trace of intensive breeding, nor the use of silage for the feeding of cows.
Vincenzo Tornillo farm
Cows in the stable
Calves in the outside enclosure
Grazing cows
Peasant snack – Cream puffs
Peasant snack – Ricotta
Peasant snack – Pane, cottage cheese and jam
The barn – Cheese Academy
After a peasant snack with ricotta and homemade jams, we visited Il Fienile - Cheese Academy.
Il Fienile - Cheese Academy
Il Fienile - Cheese Academy
Qui Enza Fiordellisi, owner's wife Luigi Di Cecca, he illustrated the refinement process, for which he is responsible.
In the special hangar with temperature, controlled humidity and light, different types of aging are carried out, a post-seasoning process: in terracotta amphoras (cheeses treated on the surface with a tanning of oil and spices, in aging for about 60 days in almost total absence of air); in barrique (refining with hay), on the wooden boards (with sludge), in steel containers (with wine).
Enza Fiordellisi shows hay aging in barrique
Aging Hangar
Aging Hangar
Aging Hangar
Aging Hangar
The amphorae are made by local craftsmen; the territory of Calitri is rich in clays, and the Calitran ceramic tradition boasts very ancient origins.
Aging in amphorae
The tanning room completes the structure of Il Fienile on the lower floor, the brushing room and the packaging room (where the first dairy was located).
Upstairs is the tasting and training room, where the comparative tasting of "white" and "yellow" cheeses took place.
La degustazione
L’iniziativa The yellows arrive was born from an idea of the professor Roberto Rubino, and intends to emphasize the importance ofbreeding e dell’supply of dairy animals and their effects in dairy products. The color of the milk is mainly given by flavonoids and carotenoids.
It goes without saying that the milk of animals raised on pasture, therefore more yellow, it will have a richer and more complex organoleptic profile.
tasting, young caciocavallo from milk of animals fed in cowshed (white cheese), produced in March; young caciocavallo from milk of animals raised on pasture (yellow cheese), produced in May; cave-aged caciocavallo, produced in September 2019.
Caciocavallo is a typical product of the southern Apennines. Made entirely by hand, it has a size of approx 2 kg.
Once the checks are done, raw whole milk is added with whey starter and goat's rennet.
After breaking the corn grain, the curd is left to rest in the warm whey for about 2 ore, to facilitate the spinning of the pasta.
The aged white caciocavallo 3 months it has an intense aroma of butter and a certain spiciness. In fact, in March the cows were already grazing, therefore the color is pale straw yellow.
Young caciocavallo from milk of animals fed in cowshed (white cheese)
The yellow caciocavallo, very young (just a month), the tasting reveals instead lively herbaceous hints and a spiciness lower than the previous sample.
Young caciocavallo from milk of animals raised on pasture (yellow cheese)
The caciocavallo seasoned in the cave undergoes an initial drying and maturing period in the cell (circa 60 giorni), then to 6 months of seasoning in the cave, thanks to which the rind takes on a brown color.
The nose has toasted notes of nuts; in the mouth the spiciness is moderate, the entrance is salty and the finish sweet.
Various tests have been carried out on the farm with higher seasonings; probably a caciocavallo gran Riserva could enter the market.
Caciocavallo aged in the cave
Caciocavallo aged in the cave
The seasoning in the cave
The last part of our journey ended in the historic center of Calitri, with a visit to the two ancient Caciocavallo Irpino seasoning caves of Caseificio D&D: Il Frantoio and La Filanda.
The caves of Calitri are hundreds, and they are millennial. Each portal in the historic center hides one; a real underground beehive.
The original structures are in sandstone rocks (here was the sea, so much so that shell fossils have been found); the arches, on the other hand, were built later by the populations who found shelter there, using river stones (Ofanto and tributaries) and natural mortars.
The dairy bought the two caves to take advantage of the constant microclimate for the maturing of the cheeses: in winter the rock absorbs water and in summer releases it, therefore temperature and humidity are always constant, with a maximum deviation of 2 degrees and a few percentage points of humidity. In winter the average temperature is approx 12 degrees with 80% of humidity, in summer the average temperature is 15 degrees with 75% of humidity.
These conditions give the cheese unique smells and aromas.
The cave The oil mill in the past it was used for milling olives; there is still the original millstone, which was driven by a donkey.
Seasoning cave Il Frantoio
Chestnut wooden palisades were set inside the cave, on which the cheeses are hung with the help of nets.
Seasoning cave Il Frantoio
In the caves there is constant work; the caciocavalli are moved continuously for a uniform seasoning. They have to be pulled off the poles, brushed and positioned differently (on different poles and on different floors) because the incidence of air changes according to the position in the cave. All tasks are manual, also transport to and from the dairy. It is not an easy job, also because there is a strong ammonia smell in the cave.
Another cheese also ages in the caves, detto Donkey back because it resembles the backs of mules (wealth for the population of Calitri, useful in many things). It is pasta filata like caciocavallo, but it has larger size and holes in the dough, and it has no head.
Donkey back
La Filanda seasoning cave
For a food and wine enthusiast it is always great to see where and how a product is born, but it is even more so when the product tells of territory and traditions.
We have discovered a virtuous company and territory: Calitri, the "Positano of Irpinia", ci ha conquistati, with its beautiful historic center and its unspoiled nature, as well as the Caciocavallo Irpino di Grotta, PAT of the Campania Region.
It should also be noted that in the historic center there is Caciocavalleria D&D, the first cheese factory in the world.
Our compliments to Dairy D&D for excellent work.
Calitri
Calitri Castle
Caseificio D&D
C.da Isca Ficocchia - Calitri, Avellino
such. 0827/34840
www.caseificioded.it
www.facebook.com/Caseificio-DD-469471083209343/
Caciocavalleria D&D
Via F. German 18 - Calitri, Avellino
such. 338/3892835
www.caciocavalleriaded.it
The barn
Contrada Serra Ferrara - Calitri, Avellino
such. 0827/020011
www.ilfienile.info
ANFOSC
Viale del Basento, 108 - Power
such. 0971/54661
www.anfosc.it
https://robertorubino.eu/arrivano-gialli-e-questa-volta-saranno-virali/
Compliments! Excellent initiative, I hope it will be repeated again this summer… I would like to participate in a path of this type… Especially if proposed in my land.
Grazie
Hi Antonella, the event “The yellows arrive” it is usually offered once a year.
However, it is possible to visit Dairy D&D regardless of these initiatives; here are all the reception methods: http://www.caseificioded.it/accoglienza/
If you want to get to know the members of the ANFOSC association from all over Italy, here is the list http://www.anfosc.it/template.jsp?pagina=produttori
Thanks and have a nice day 🙂