Description
RAGUSANO PDO
Ragusano PDO is one of the oldest cheeses in Sicily, around which a flourishing trade was born that already crossed the island’s borders in the 16th century. It was called “caciocavallo” because it was hung on top of a rod. It is also called “Scaluni” or “Quattro facci” because of its resemblance to bricks.
In the period when the Iblei Mountains are particular luxuriant of aromatic herbs, grazing favors the organoleptic qualities of its milk. Seasoning takes place in usually underground, humid and ventilated rooms, called “maiazzé”.
The production area of Ragusano PDO includes the entire territory of the province of Ragusa and the municipalities of Noto, Palazzolo Acreide and Rosolini in the province of Syracuse, in the Sicily region.
The milk is curdled with lamb and/or kid rennet until curd is obtained which is broken after about 60-80 minutes to facilitate the whey bleeding. The first cooking follows with the addition of water at a temperature of 80 ° C, which leads to the formation of grains the size of rice grains.
The pasta obtained is purged, then treated with the sheet, a liquid deriving from the processing of ricotta, covered with a cloth and left to rest for 85 minutes. Once left to dry for about 20 hours, the pasta is cut into slices, covered with water for a few minutes and then worked to obtain a spherical shape which is then modeled into a square-section parallelepiped shape. The shapes are subjected to brine salting and then left to mature in ventilated rooms with a room temperature of 14-16 ° C, binding the shapes in pairs with thin ropes and placing them astride special supports, those destined for a longer seasoning are subjected to capping with olive oil.
