Padraccio is an Italian cheese made in Basilicata, typical of the Pollino National Park area. It is recognized as a prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (PAT) of Basilicata. [1]
The cheese is made from a mixture of the milk of the Lucana grey goat (capra grigia lucana) – a rare breed of goat from the Apennines [2] – and sheep's milk. [3]
Padraccio is produced between April and July. Raw milk is heated to 37–38 °C (99–100 °F) degrees before the (sheep or goat) rennet is added. The cheese sets in 20–30 minutes. When the curds break, the cheese is transferred to a wicker container and worked with the fingers. It is then pressed, using the flat of the hand, to end up with a spherical shape. Finally, this fresh cheese with no added salt needing no ripening time is wrapped in fern leaves.
Mozzarella is a semi-soft non-aged cheese prepared by the pasta filata method with origins from southern Italy.
Feta is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep's milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat's milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, a compact touch, few cuts, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into large blocks and aged in brine. Its flavor is tangy and salty, ranging from mild to sharp. Feta is used as a table cheese, in salads such as Greek salad, and in pastries, notably the phyllo-based Greek dishes spanakopita "spinach pie" and tyropita "cheese pie". It is often served with olive oil or olives, and sprinkled with aromatic herbs such as oregano. It can also be served cooked, as part of a sandwich, in omelettes, and many other dishes.
Pecorino cheeses are hard Italian cheeses made from sheep's milk. The name "pecorino" derives from pecora, which means "sheep" in Italian.
Goat cheese, goat's cheese or chèvre is cheese made from goat's milk. Goats were among the first animals to be domesticated for producing food. Goat cheese is made around the world with a variety of recipes, giving many different styles of cheeses, from fresh and soft to aged and hard.
Caciocavallo is a type of stretched-curd cheese made out of sheep's or cow's milk. It is produced throughout southern Italy, particularly in the Apennine Mountains and in the Gargano peninsula. Shaped like a teardrop, it is similar in taste to the aged southern Italian provolone cheese, with a hard edible rind.
Ricotta is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after the casein has been used to make cheese, notably albumin and globulin.
Cheesemaking is the craft of making cheese. The production of cheese, like many other food preservation processes, allows the nutritional and economic value of a food material, in this case milk, to be preserved in concentrated form. Cheesemaking allows the production of the cheese with diverse flavors and consistencies.
Toma is a soft or semi-hard Italian cow's milk cheese, noted for its excellent melting qualities. It is made primarily in the Aosta Valley and Piedmont regions of Northwestern Italy. Toma varies with region and locale of production, and is closely related to the French tomme.
Sheep's milk is the milk of domestic sheep. It is commonly used to make cultured dairy products, such as cheese. Some of the most popular sheep cheeses include feta (Greece), ricotta (Italy), and Roquefort (France).
Castelmagno (DOP) is an Italian cheese originating from the Piedmont region. It has a protected designation of origin status in the European Union.
Raschera is an Italian pressed fat or medium fat, semi-hard cheese made with raw or pasteurized cow milk, to which a small amount of sheep's and/or goat's milk may be added. It has an ivory white color inside with irregularly spaced small eyes, and a semi-hard rind which is red gray sometimes with yellow highlights. It has a savory and salty taste, similar to Muenster cheese, and can be moderately sharp if the cheese has been aged.
Canestrato is a hard cheese from the Italian regions of Basilicata, Apulia, Sicily, and Abruzzo, made from a mixture of sheep milk and goat milk. It is listed on the Ark of Taste. The cheese is typical in Basilicata. It is also a specialty of Castel del Monte, Abruzzo. The Apulian variety is made using Levilactobacillus brevis.
The Delle Langhe, also called Pecora delle Langhe or Langarola, is a breed of domestic sheep indigenous to Piedmont, in north-western Italy. It is a rough-woolled breed of southern Mediterranean type, and originates from the mountainous area of the Alta Langa, where the Apennines meet the Alps, in the province of Cuneo. It is raised mainly in the Langhe, but is found in several other regions of Italy including Abruzzo, Basilicata, Emilia–Romagna, Liguria and Tuscany.
The Rossa Mediterranea is a breed of domestic goat from the Mediterranean island of Sicily, in southern Italy. It derives from the Damascus goat of Syria and the eastern Mediterranean, and is thus also known as the Derivata di Siria. It is raised mainly in Sicily, but also in Basilicata and Calabria in southern mainland Italy.
Pecorino di Filiano is a firm cheese from the Italian region of Basilicata made from sheep milk. It was granted protected designation of origin (PDO) in 2007.
Moliterno is an Italian pasta filata cheese that is produced in a similar manner to caciocavallo and other pasta filata cheeses.
The cuisine of Basilicata, or Lucanian cuisine, is the cuisine of the Basilicata region of Italy. It is mainly based on the use of pork and sheep meat, legumes, cereals and vegetables, with the addition of aromas such as hot peppers, powdered raw peppers and horseradish. The local gastronomy is, for historical-cultural reasons, typically peasant, based on simple recipes and on the culture of reuse, in particular of meat and bread.
Cacioricotta is a typical southern Italian cheese produced in the regions of Basilicata, Apulia, and Calabria.
