HOW TO DO CHEESE
In this class you’ll produce with us some of our typical cheeses: cacioricotta cheese or pecorino with fresh ricotta cheeses, following, in all phases, the same old methods and traditions.
Since I was very young the Masseria (old local farms) were our “supermarket” where to buy fresh milk, cheeses, “ricotta forte” (a spicy cheese from the fermentation of the fresh ricotta) eggs, vegetables, fruit and meat.
Everytime my grandmother chose a different farm of our area because as a midwife at home, she knew everybody grateful for her service but also because of the different taste of cheeses. It’s the grass that animal feed and the air that give to cheese a different taste, she told us.
At the opposite of the modern industrialization, the tradition prescribes to be slow, patient and to follow the seasons. The humidity, the climate, the sun, the kind of grass, definetely different cheeses depending on the season. In particular, from October to May, from Autumn to late Spring, we produce pecorino and fresh ricotta cheeses. While the fresh ricotta is to be eaten fresh, raw or cooked with pasta, we let age the pecorino cheese to obtain a very tasty and little spicy cheese. It’s also one of the top ingredients for the local Orecchiette con le brasciole dish.
From June to September the cheese produced is called cacioricotta. Despite the similar names, it’s a different cheese that follows a completely different procedure, granting a round and white soft cheese with a very sweet taste, to be eaten raw or grated on top of the typical dish Orecchiette with tomato sauce.
In the charming and peaceful Valle d’Itria (Itria Valley, a valley in the earth of Puglia composed by a very rich vegetation, Unesco heritage since 1996) we will wait for the milk to warm and at the right temperature, the “milky dough”, the first cheese appears. With the same slow movements of our ancestors, “stressing” and “caressing” the dough, the warm and sweet cheese will be rolled and pushed and turned and stressed in a compact round shape and finally caressed with salt that will sign the beginning of the resting period to age. A small basket of fresh cheese will be reserved for you.
At the end we will taste our home-made fresh cheeses with other typical products in a light lunch served with a mix of local cheeses, bread, vegetables, tomatoes, olive oil, capers, fresh white or rosè wine.
Adult 45 €/person
young (4-12 years) 30 €/person
LOCAL HISTORY AND TYPICAL FOOD, AUTHENTIC TRADITIONS THAT WE LOVE TO SHARE FOR A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE.
The invention of cheese originates 6000 year ago. It was exclusively produced from ship’s milk. In Puglia the typical sheep called “pecora moscia” was imported from Asia, millennia ago, now quite disappeared. It’s considered one of the best Italian sheep’s races.