Caciocavallo

Product An aged cheese with a smooth paste that is hard and not cooked. It is cured in brine for several days.

Milk Whole cow's milk, sometimes partly skimmed, and with the possible addition of ewe's or goat's milk.

Origin Throughout southern Italy but it is also made in Lombardy.

Shape Flask-shaped with rounded base and a top shaped like a ball. Various types are made: - Neapolitan or spindle-shaped, when it has a head and tail. - Montonino or pear-shaped, when it is oval rather than round and has a small head. - Provolone or Melonessa, when it is sphere-shaped or elliptical. - Provetta, when it is round and small. - Four-faced, when iti is shaped like a prism or is rectangular. - Autumn pear, when it is small and shaped like a pear. - Teadda, when it has a squashed shape. - Giocattoli (toys), when leftover cheese is used to produce small figures of animals.

Form and Dimensions The forms have a diameter of 15 cms. (5.9 in), a height of 26-28 cms.(10-11 in.) and a weight of 2-3 kilos (4.4-6.6 lbs.).

Characteristics A compact and unbroken paste that is white or yellowish in color and has a thin, smooth crust of a color ranging from straw-yellow to light brown.

Types - Dolce (sweet), a young cheese with a sweet and delicate flavor. - Piccante (piquant), with a sapid and piquant flavor, aged two months. - Affumicato (smoked), with smoking, the cheese acquires a bitterish taste and a characteristically aromatic flavor. - Siciliano, a specialty of the Ragusa area on Sicily, also known as Casicavaddu Rausanu, or Cascavaddu, which is made from cow's and sheep's milk. It is not cured in brine but pressed and seasoned with dry salt. It has an oblong, rectangular shape and weighs 8-12 kilos (17.6-26.4 lbs.). The cheese has a piquant flavor, which is less pronounced when it is fresh and much stronger when it has been aged. The cheese can be eaten at the table or grated.

Aging or Ripening 3 to 4 months, when the cheese is made from whole milk.

Consumption At the table, when it is young; aged cheese can be greated.

Processing A certain quantity of "starter", kept over from the preceding processing, is added to the milk, then rennetÑfrom lambs or kids if a piquant cheese is desired or from calves, if a sweet product is the goalÑis blended in. The milk is then heated to 35 degrees C.(95¡F.) and left to "rest" for about 30 minutes. The curds are broken up and left in wooden tubs for 6 to 15 hours to ripen. When the cheese is ready, it is cut into pieces of the desired size.

History The name is not derived, as is erroneously believed, from the practice of making the cheese from mare's milk. It is from the Turkish word qasqawal.

Storage Caciocavallo should be kept in the lower part of the refrigerator or a cool pantry. It should be wrapped in paper or sealed in polyethylene bags pierced in places so that the cheese can breathe.

Gastronomy The fresh type makes a pleasant appetizer. Serve it in slices with a bit of excellent olive oil poured over them. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.

Availability Troughout the year.