I’m no cheese maker and in fact am slap dash in any of my culinary creations, often with bare feet having collected eggs from the chicken coop, unwashed hands and all the rest.
I lived in rural Sicily 20 years ago and my neighbour was a goat herd.
It took me a year before I could speak the village dialetto and when I finally could, I was able to go buy my fresh ricotta, as he did not speak Italian, having never been to school.
The goats and sheep would roam through my land, I visited other families who made their weekly breads in a tiny garage with a wood fired oven, I helped at the olive harvest, learned to salt my own olives, got very drunk too frequently at lunchtimes on everyone's home brewed wine, and so much more.
These traditional skills are precious and not practiced enough.
I really enjoyed reading what you shared, and it took me back to my friendships with these wonderful, funny and real people in Sicily where life evolves around food (and gossip).
It is no wonder that the richness of life makes its way into these cheeses that are created as part of life rather than a separate, sterile environment. The microbial reflections of our environments are the magic elements that created these wonderful and traditional foods, dirty hands and all! Let's keep it that way for the good of our palates, our gut health and our artisanal traditions!
I'm curious, with the hotter climate in Sicily, do they age in cool caves underground? I always seem to see caciocavallo hanging in normal rooms with either windows though subterranean or above ground. Do they just age cheese at a higher temperature and add more salt and allow higher acidity to over compensate? Or are there less molds in the more hot seaside climate there?
I’m no cheese maker and in fact am slap dash in any of my culinary creations, often with bare feet having collected eggs from the chicken coop, unwashed hands and all the rest.
I lived in rural Sicily 20 years ago and my neighbour was a goat herd.
It took me a year before I could speak the village dialetto and when I finally could, I was able to go buy my fresh ricotta, as he did not speak Italian, having never been to school.
The goats and sheep would roam through my land, I visited other families who made their weekly breads in a tiny garage with a wood fired oven, I helped at the olive harvest, learned to salt my own olives, got very drunk too frequently at lunchtimes on everyone's home brewed wine, and so much more.
These traditional skills are precious and not practiced enough.
I really enjoyed reading what you shared, and it took me back to my friendships with these wonderful, funny and real people in Sicily where life evolves around food (and gossip).
It is no wonder that the richness of life makes its way into these cheeses that are created as part of life rather than a separate, sterile environment. The microbial reflections of our environments are the magic elements that created these wonderful and traditional foods, dirty hands and all! Let's keep it that way for the good of our palates, our gut health and our artisanal traditions!
I'm curious, with the hotter climate in Sicily, do they age in cool caves underground? I always seem to see caciocavallo hanging in normal rooms with either windows though subterranean or above ground. Do they just age cheese at a higher temperature and add more salt and allow higher acidity to over compensate? Or are there less molds in the more hot seaside climate there?
I learn something new every time. Thanks