CHEESE FROM BASILICATA
In the collective narrative group Tasting cheese arrives Simone Cancellara, who has the task of telling the story cheeses from Basilicata.
Simone, archaeologist by training in love with his territory, Lucania, is waiting to complete the first level Onaf course and shares her passion for cheeses with the world of Instagram by telling them on her page “The cheese hunter”.
We asked him what his preferences are for cheeses, and here are his answers.
– Which cheese in your area are you most attached to for sentimental reasons (not the best "technically") and why?
«The cheese of my area to which I am romantically linked is undoubtedly the pecorino cheese. My grandmother took it fresh in small local companies and then salted it and it “he cared” personally in the cellar. Although it was more a cheese to grate, I went greedy and went to eat it in secret ".
– Which cheese do you prefer to eat "absolute"? And which one do you prefer to use in gastronomic preparations?
«I love it mountain cheeses (despite my southernity) and the French ones. But the ones that literally drive me crazy are the erborinati. Dream, a tal proposito, to produce my own and season it in my sandstone cave ".
CHEESE FROM BASILICATA
by Simone Cancellara
“Basilicata is a bit’ like the concept of God, you believe it or you don't believe it”. So spoke the Lucanian Rocco Papaleo in a famous film that told about his land (Basilicata coast to coast) now 10 Years ago.
In the meantime, everything has changed. Basilicata is no longer that half-known region set between the much more famous Campania and Puglia. Mass tourism has arrived, Matera European Capital of Culture has arrived 2019. Nevertheless, many aspects of this little big region are still to be discovered, including its food and wine aspects.
Basilicata is essentially a land of mountains, or high hills. His is a poor cuisine, full of vegetables and legumes. Valuable, però, there are its cured meats and sausages (remember that one of the most popular foods in the world, the sausage, was born here), and, naturalmente, its cheeses.
Excluding the extreme variety that small and medium dairies give us in terms of dairy products, here we will deal with the three main cheeses of Lucania: the Pecorino di Filiano, Canestrato di Moliterno and Caciocavallo Podolico.
Pecorino di Filiano DOP
DOP from 2007, takes its name from the village of Filiano, in the province of Potenza, almost three thousand souls on the Lucanian Apennines between Potenza and Melfi. However, the production area involves almost the entire northern part of Basilicata.
It is a hard, semi-cooked cheese, with raw and whole milk. The weight varies from 2,5 ai 5 kg, and is not marketed before the minimum seasoning of 180 days accomplished in the characteristic tuff caves of the area.
The sweeter and more enveloping flavor of the first seasoning gives way to more pronounced trigeminal sensations over time. It is also characterized by hints of meat broth and dried fruit.
It is the undisputed protagonist of the relative Filiano pecorino festival, that gives more than 50 years deals with the promotion and enhancement of the product.
It goes perfectly with the local Aglianico del Vulture DOC wine.
Canestrato di Moliterno PGI
Another great Lucano dairy product, but this time we are in the south of the region.
Moliterno is in fact one of the wonderful villages of the Val d’Agri, whose etymological meaning, “mulcternum”, it means “place where milk is milked and coagulated”. The antiquity of this production is therefore recognized by all.
It is a raw and mixed milk cheese with a semi-hard or hard texture. The fairly regular cylindrical shapes are marked by the typical signs of the fuscelle “canestrate” and the weight varies from 2 ai 5 chili. The seasoning is very important, which, of at least 60 days before marketing, takes place in the basement rooms typical of Moliterno, the so-called Foundations. Hints of meat broth and stable accompany the tasting of this cheese, not forgetting sometimes dried fruit and floral scents.
It has the IGP recognition since 2010.
Podolic Caciocavallo from Basilicata PAT
However, if you are looking for a cheese that makes you feel all the aromas and flavors of the Lucan Apennine mountains, you can only taste the Caciocavallo Podolico. We are talking about an ancient race, majestically, guardian of an ancient and precious past. The resulting milk and cheese retain unique organoleptic and nutritional properties. Unfortunately, over the years, the number of animals raised has steadily decreased, even if the renewed sensitivity to biodiversity and quality gastronomy of recent times are probably creating a turnaround, but it's still too early to tell.
The most striking thing is certainly the color: depending on the seasoning, the yellow of the Caciocavallo Podolico is much more intense than the normal spun pasta. On the palate, it is an explosion of hay and honey and stable. The more it matures, the more the aromas and flavors are accentuated, including the trigeminal piccantino.
Simone Cancellara
Instagram profile: www.instagram.com/il_cacciatore_di_formaggi/