Cacciocavallo

While at Agriturismo La Sorgente, I spent two mornings with the neighbors, Claudia & Franco, to watch (and help) as they make delicious Sicilian cheeses. At Azienda Zootecnica Merendino, they only produce natural cheeses with pure ingredients. The animals are grass fed, freely roaming and grazing blissfully on these Sicilian hills and the babies have only the milk from their mothers. Cheeses are made only with fresh milk, Sicilian sea salt, lamb rennet and spring water (and sometimes a few black peppercorns and some white wine vinegar).

Here at Azienda Zootecnica Merendino they make an assortment of cheeses ranging from pecorino, cacciocavallo, tuma (which is delicious fried and with an egg, and should not to be confused with TOMA which is made in the north in Piemonte and Val d'Aosta), ricotta, capretta (small goat cheese discs), provolone and more! They have quite the aging rooms here, all with a humid feel and a pungent smell that I absolutely love!

I got to watch as they made Cacciocavallo, a Sicilian form of provolone that can be eaten fresh, aged, grated or also another version is smoked. It is often enjoyed as mozzarella is in the US, good for melting on pizzas, over pasta, or really on anything!

To make Cacciocavallo...
First of all, this is a bi-product of the process to make ricotta from cow milk. To make this cheese you do the following...

1. Cut strips of dry cacciocavallo bricks that have been drained, dried and pressed from the day(s) before.

2. Put all slices into a pot

3. Add hot whey (90C) from the cow's milk ricotta process (see ricotta blog)

4. Stir and mix well until softened and form into one large ball that is stretched to have smooth outer layer.

5. Cut in half and make (stretch and fold) inot a log

6. Cut log into smaller blocks and place blocks back in hot whey

7. Form by hand into balls, pushing into the center to form a large "butt" and then squeeze the neck to form a small "head" (you may need to dunk the head and neck back into the hot whey in order to make it softer again and more pliable).

8. Once it is formed properly, dunk in salted water and let sit there for 12 hours. Attach string and hang to dry and age.

Ricotta

Ricotta di Pecora

 Creamy, sweet and with a touch of salt, this fresh cheese makes my heart melt. And when eaten warm, freshly made, it is heavenly!

Ricotta is a cheese that is actually the secondary product of making anther cheese. So in this case, we will first make Tuma (a Sicilian cheese) and then we will RECOOK the milk to make the ricotta (which means "re-cooked").

Tuma with black peppercorns

So here we go...

Take A LOT of sheep's milk (this day we had 280L) and heat it to 36 C. Stop the heat and stir in the rennet (that has been diluted in some water). Rennet is the stomach lining of baby male cows.

Rennet

Let the milk sit like this for about an hour until it coagulates.

Coagulated!

When there are some masses forming, stir it quickly! Add some hot water (60C) and stir again.

Let the curds settle to the bottom (wait about 5 minutes).

Pour off liquid whey and begin to remove curds from the bottom.

Remove the curds and let them drain in a basket, layering some peppercorns in between layers if you wish. This will become Tuma cheese later.

NOW, for the Ricotta...
With the remaining liquid (whey), heat to 50C and add 10% more sheep milk (it should be cold).

Stir and heat up this mixture until it reaches 80C. Add salt (to taste- he uses 2 large ladles) and a bit of white wine vinegar mixed with some water.

WIth the disc paddle, do one last stir and gently lift it up as the mixture swirls to a stop. Let this sit for 5 minutes. (stop the heat)

Cheese-making tools. 

These are what I call the disk paddle and the whisk paddle. Not sure what they are actually called!

Ladle out the top layer of the "hard" stuff and place into baskets to drain.

TA-DA! Sheep's Milk Ricotta is complete! Now let drain and cool in fridge! On this day, starting with 280L of milk (and then adding in an additional 28L), we ended up with 85 baskets of ricotta that will equal approximately 40kg of final cheese.

The Ricotta di Pecore is also made into other delicious cheeses... 

It can be salted and dried into Ricotta Salata. Younger ricotta salata are on the bottom rack while those that have been aged for a few weeks are on the top.

Franco salting the Ricotta that has sat and drained for a day and is a bit harder now.

Ricotta di Muca

For Cow's Milk Ricotta, the process is slightly different and the taste and texture are very different as well. Cow's milk ricotta is not quite as delicate in texture and is a touch sweeter but less creamy (aka fatty). Personally I prefer the silky, creamy texture and rich savory and slightly sweet taste of the pecora, but both are deliciouso!

OK... so here we go for Cow Ricotta

Heat cow milk to 38C (we started with 240 L of milk this day)

Add the rennet (softened in water) and STIR

Wait 1 hour while the milk and rennet interact (milk is covered at this time)

Once the milk reaches 38 C, stir hard for 5 minutes with the whisk.

Gradually slow down the stirring and let the curds rise to the TOP

Drain the liquid whey (but reserve it) and then "cut" the remaining curd mass.

Remove the curds and place in 2 large baskets to drain.

This will eventually be Cow's Milk TUMA!

Ok... now to RECOOK the milk and make RICOTTA...

Add the whey/milk back into the vat

Heat this to 90 C (this is hotter than the pecora milk because cow milk is more strong and less fat)

At 90 C, skim the scum and stir with the disc paddle'

Add a mix of white wine vinegar and aceto di levito and the liquid whey from the previous day

Stir and swirl and let sit... it will separate on it's own!

Skim the foamy scum and then ladle the hard curd mass into 2 kg baskets and drain. This day we made 12 baskets.

In addition to tuma and ricotta, this farm also makes cacciocavallo, pecorino, provolone and goat cheeses too! YUM!

Colors of Italy

Italy is officially represented by the national colors on their flag - Green, Red & White. Some may think this trifecta suits this country well as many of their dishes involve green herbs, red sauces full of fresh tomatoes and white pasta and breads.

I however will always associate Italy with the most beautiful melding of green and purple. This vibrant complementary color scheme is seen often in nature and I have noticed the striking combination in many of the fruits and vegetables, many of which I have had the great fortune to taste immediately after picking.

OLIVES

Olives in Puglia, naturally turning from light green to dark purple

FIGS

Figs come in two colors here in Italy, a green variety and a purple variety. Both varieties start out with green skin. The deep purple color sets as the fig matures. 

Even on the inside, a fig has a beautiful color transition from light green to purple. 

 RAMASIN

A sweet fruit, similar to a grape but with one large seed, only available in the summer and also turns from green to purple. Looks especially vibrant when placed next to these green beans at the market. 

 GRAPES

Red grapes at the end of July, turning from green to "red" and will later become a deep purplish-black color. 

ROSEMARY

Even rosemary has a combination of green (needles) and purple (flowers).

ARTICHOKES

The beautiful yet painful spiny artichoke of Sardinia. They are the epitome of the green-purple gradation.

Like figs, artichokes continue this complementary color scheme on the inside of the vegetable too. 

 Each artichoke has it's own depth of colors changing from light green to deep purple.

EGGPLANT and RADICCHIO

Both have exceptional contrasts of green and purple coloring.

UNCERTAIN VEGETABLE

From spring green to deep purple to kelly green, this green vegetable has the entire color package. Now, if only I knew what it was! 

CAPERS

A broad range of colors in each caper as well as differing from plant to plant, capers have it all- from reddish purple to electric green.

PURPLE CAULIFLOWER

A picture says 1,000 words

PURPLE BEANS

These beautiful beans start out as green, mature into a deep purple and then turn green again when boiled. 

For me, I will forever associate all of these beautiful foods with Italian cuisine not only because of their delicious flavor but also for their exquisite colors and lovely memories. 

Capri (Capers)

The Caper Bush thrives in hot, rocky environments such as Sicily. The plant grows naturally all over the landscape here and grows directly in the rocks. 

From May-July capers are ready to be picked. What we know as capers are actually the buds of this flowering plant. Capers are pickled in salt or a salt and vinegar solution. They are deliciously salty and have a slightly acidic and slightly spicy taste.

 Three stages of capers- the baby bud, the medium sized bud ready to flower and the beginning of the flower opening. 

  A flowering caper with other buds ready to be picked. Capers can range in color from bright green to deep purple and in size from a piece of rice to a large pea. The best color and size depends on your personal preference. 

The beautiful caper flower. 

After flowering, the caper berry develops. It is basically the fruit of the caper plant and can also be harvested, pickled and eaten. 

We spent 3 hours a day finding and picking wild capers. We would heavily salt them in the morning and evening, tossing them all together to be sure each caper was receiving the salty solution. 

A range of salted capers. From Left to Right... salted for 1 day, salted for 4-5 days, salted for 2 weeks. Capers are an important part of Sicilian cuisine and along with olives, often provide the salty component to their delicious foods. 

I love capers any way you give them to me! But my favorite preparation is also the simplest- salted capers, drizzled with robust Sicilian olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice on a slice of bread. 

Another great southern Italian recipe to try with capers ...

(all measurements are approximations- so experiment to your own taste)

Spaghetti con Tonno
3-4 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Small White Onion, sliced
2 each Bay Leaves
1 C Cherry Tomatoes, halved
1/2 C Kalamata Olives
1/4 C Capers
2 cans Tuna, broken up in to large chunks
1/4 C Parsley, chopped fine, to garnish
100-125g Spaghetti per person

1. Cook spaghetti to al dente in salted water (8-11 minutes depending on the brand).
2. While spaghetti is cooking, in a separate pan, heat oil, onions and bay leaves until aromatic.
3. Add in tomatoes, olives, capers and tuna and lightly simmer until all are just heated.
4. Drain pasta and immediately add to "sauce", tossing well, allowing the flavors to meld and the pasta to absorb some of the flavor and liquid to finish cooking.
5. Serve immediately, garnished with a drizzle of olive oil and chopped parsley.

Buon Appetito!