During your holiday in Puglia, you must taste the delicious cheese produced in our beautiful region: Mozzarella, Burrata, Stracciata, Caciocavallo, Canestrato, Cacioricotta cheese…
Let’s start with the queen of the dairy products: the Mozzarella.
The Mozzarella could be surely considered among the most famous italian cheese all around the world, produced in different regions in South of Italy and recently Puglia has been awarded a quality mark with the Mozzarella Gioia del Colle DOP (protected designation of origin), exclusively made from cow milk.
Unlike the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP, infact the Mozzarella di Gioia del Colle DOP, also known as fiordilatte mozzarella, is a spun paste cheese obtained only from cow’s milk and shaped into nodini mozzarella, bocconcini, braided mozzarella and fiordilatte, the classical round shape mozzarella, with a white and smooth surface, and a tart but delicate taste.
The production takes place in various towns of the province of Bari, the province of Taranto and part of the city of Matera in Basilicata.
A variant of the Mozzarella is the Stracciata, born out of the need not to waste the remains of the pasta filata, which were tattered and mixed with the fresh cream to create a new creamy and exquisite cheese, perfect to be accompanied with a dish of pasta, a slice of bread or Apulian focaccia.
The Burrata is a mix between the Mozzarella and the Stracciata, a real explosion of flavour, which has a soft and succulent centre when sliced.
And in effect it’s made with mozzarella paste externally and filled up with the stracciata inside.
Puglia gained a mark of recognition as Burrata di Andria IGP (protected geographical indication).
Among the stretched cheese is also the Apulian Caciocavallo; this is an appetizing hard cheese that comes in sweet, spicy and smoked varieties, these latter have a stronger savour.
Its typical rounded shape is connected to its seasoning: a couple of caciocavallo cheese were tied up and left to mature usually for several months hanging from a beam, riding on a beam, that’s why the name.
The hard cheese include also the Apulian Canestrato, only got by sheep’s milk, and when it becomes a compact curd, it is collected into a reed basket, from which the name takes origin.
The Canestrato production is only in Puglia, limited to the territory of Foggia and part of the province of Bari, and it’s guaranteed with the DOP certification.
In the traditional Apulian cuisine we should mention the Cacioricotta cheese, often used grated or in slivers to dress the popular orecchiette pasta.
The Apulian cacioricotta could be a soft cheese, eaten for table use, or a seasoned and semi-hard cheese, therefore for grating. It is made by sheep’s milk, also blended with cow and goat milk.
A guided tour in a local cheese factory allows you to discover the cheese-making methods and have a tasting of our excellent Apulian cheese.
For any further information, don’t hesitate to contact me.
viaggieitinerari... in Puglia by Valeria Dicarlo 