Caciocavallo is a type of
stretched-curd cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
made out of
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
's or
cow
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
's milk. It is produced throughout
Southern Italy
Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half.
The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
, particularly in the
Apennine Mountains
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...
and in the
Gargano
Gargano (, Gargano Apulian Italo-Romance arˈgæːnə is a historical and geographical sub-region in the province of Foggia, Apulia, southeast Italy, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming ...
peninsula. Shaped like a teardrop, it is similar in taste to the aged Southern Italian
Provolone
Provolone (, ) is an Italian cheese. It is an aged ''pasta filata'' (stretched-curd) cheese originating in Campania near Vesuvius, where it is still produced in pear, sausage, or cone shapes long. Provolone-type cheeses are also produced in othe ...
cheese, with a hard edible rind.
Etymology
The Italian name of the cheese ''caciocavallo'' literally means "horse cheese" and it is generally thought that the name derives from the fact that two cheese forms are always bound together with rope and then left to mature by placing them 'a cavallo', i.e. straddling, upon a horizontal stick or branch.
History
Apparently caciocavallo was mentioned the first time around 500 BC by
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of ...
, emphasising the "Greeks' cleverness in making cheese".
Columella
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire.
His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...
in his classic treatise on agriculture, ''De re rustica'' (35–45
CE), described precisely the methods used in its preparation, making it one of the oldest known cheeses in the world. Types of cheese with names similar to "caciocavallo" are common throughout the Balkans and Southern Italy (Eastern Mediterranean).
In Sicily, the Ragusano DOP, known locally as "caciocavallo ragusano" had to drop the denomination "caciocavallo" in order to get DOP status.
Types
Many different types of caciocavallo exist in Italy and several are recognized as (traditional regional food product) like (produced using only milk from the Podolica cattle breed), (from Miscano valley in the
Apennines
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...
) or (often called ).
Protected geographical status (PDO)
Caciocavallo Silano is made with cow's milk in designated areas of Southern Italy, in the regions of
Basilicata
it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman)
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,
Calabria
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,
Campania
Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...
,
Molise
Molise (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Neapolitan, Mulise) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise, alongside the region of Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effe ...
, and
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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, and gained
protected geographical status
Three European Union schemes of geographical indications and Traditional food, traditional specialties, known as protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG), promo ...
in 1993.
In other languages
sq, kaçkavall;
bs, kačkavalj;
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
and
Macedonian ;
ro, cașcaval;
sr, качкаваљ/;
scn, caciucavaddu;
tr, kaşkaval/;
he, קשקבל ;
el, κασκαβάλι , ;
ar, italic=no, قشقوان .
Even though the names are similar, each of these local speciality cheeses is different from both Caciocavallo Silano and each other.
See also
*
Kashkaval
Kashkaval ; bg, кашкавал ; mk, кашкавал ; sr, качкаваљ, kačkavalj; sq, kaçkavall; russian: кашкавал; tr, kaşkaval or ; ar, قشقوان, qashqawān. is a type of cheese made from cow's milk, sheep's milk or ...
*
List of stretch-curd cheeses
This is a list of stretch-curd cheeses, comprising cheeses prepared using the ''pasta filata'' technique. The cheeses manufactured from this technique undergo a plasticising and kneading treatment of the fresh curd in hot water, which gives them ...
Further reading
*
References
External links
{{Italian cheeses
Ancient dishes
Cow's-milk cheeses
Sheep's-milk cheeses
Stretched-curd cheeses
Cheeses with designation of origin protected in the European Union
Italian products with protected designation of origin
Cuisine of Sicily
Cuisine of Calabria
Cuisine of Abruzzo