CACIOCAVALLO is the king of all spun curd cheeses. It is produced with whole milk from local bovines which are fed naturally.
Milk is exclusively processed in stainless steel and is added with whey starter, which is curdled at a temperature of 36-38 °C by using natural calf rennet. The curdled cheese mass is then cut to produce 0.5-1 cm chunks.
The crumbly cheese is then placed on the bottom of curdling vat and the whey is extracted. Part of the whey is warmed at a temperature of 65 °C and poured on the crumbly cheese which undergoes a partial cooking. The cheese mass obtained is left immersed in the whey. When the cheese mass is ready to be stretched, it is drained and cut into slices. The stretching is made by hand in water at ca. 80-90 °C. The cheese mass is modelled in order to obtain a smooth external surface, while the inner part is moulded into large pear shaped pieces with a little head at the top.
The moulded shapes are first dipped in cooling water and then placed in a salt solution for a variable time period depending on the weight (24 h/kg).
In order to ensure full fragrance and flavour, caciocavallo is tied in couple, hanged in cool and ventilated rooms and dried for a minimum of two months.
A longer ageing (up to one year) gives the caciocavallo its tastiness and typical flavour.
Caciocavallo dimensions can vary from 1,5kgto10kg.
The rind is hard and thin, its colour varies from straw-yellow to beige, streaked with moulds if very aged. The rind has a compact or slightly open structure and is of a straw-yellow colour. It is characterized by an intense smell; if not aged the taste is sweet and doughy, and more intense and spicy at the advanced stage of maturing.
It is produced all over the year even if the best period is spring because bovines brow in mountain meadows and their feeding is enriched by the several essences and pigments present in spring flowers.
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