| Cheese |
Caciocavallo PodolicoPAT – Traditional Agri-Foodstuffs
Its texture, with an intense yellow color when the cheese is mature, is compact, without holes or fissures. The taste is sweet and a little sapid if made with calf rennet or when the product is still green, more intense and slightly spicy if made with kid rennet. Excellent with red wines, roasted chestnuts and Porcini mushrooms.
Cacioricotta
Caciocavallo SilanoPDO – Protected Designation of Origin
Caciocavallo Silano can be used as a table cheese or as an ingredient for many characteristic recipes of Southern Italy. Thanks to its nutritional qualities, it is particularly adequate for the diet of children, elderly, and sportsmen. According to the most reliable theory on the origin of the name “caciocavallo”, it derives from the habit to hang up the cheese rounds, in couples, astride wooden poles lying near fireplaces. The first author describing the method used by the Greeks to prepare cheese is Hippocrates in 500 BC. Afterwards, several Latin authors, like Columella and Pliny, have dealt with cheese in their works. In particular, Pliny praises the qualities of “butirro”, an ancestor of our caciocavallo, calling it “very delicate food”. The name “Silano” derives from the ancient origins of the product linked to the Sila plateau. Muzzarella co’ a murteddaPAT – Traditional Agri-Foodstuffs
Pecorino Cheese
MozzarellaMozzarella is traditionally produced solely from the milk of the domestic water buffalo. After curdling the product is drained and the whey discarded. The cheese is then stretched and kneaded to produce a delicate consistency — this process is generally known as pasta filata. According to the Mozzarella di Bufala trade association, “The cheese maker kneads it with his hands, like a baker making bread, until he obtains a smooth, shiny paste, a strand of which he pulls out and lops off, forming the individual mozzarella.” It is then typically formed into ball shapes or in plait. In Italy, a “rubbery” consistency is generally considered not satisfactory; the cheese is expected to be softer. Buffalo MozzarellaPDO – Protected Designation of Origin
The Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio di Bufala Campana (in English, “The Consortium for the Protection of the Buffalo Cheese of Campania”) is an organization of approximately 200 producers, that, under Italian law, is responsible for the “protection, surveillance, promotion and marketing” of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana cheese. The digestive system of water buffaloes permits them to turn low grade vegetation into rich milk which, due to its higher percentage of solids, provides higher levels of protein, fat and minerals than cow’s milk. Generally, buffalo mozzarella is enjoyed with pasta, calzone, vegetables, salads, on pizza low moisture content buffalo mozzarella is preferred), on grilled bread, or by itself accompanied by olive oil. “Mozzarella”, which is clearly derived from southern Italian dialects, was the diminutive form of mozza (cut), or mozzare (to cut off) derived from the method of working. Other theories describe its origins as a minor preparation of “scamozza” (Scamorza cheese), which in its turn probably derives from “scamozzata” (“without a shirt”), with allusion to the fact that these cheeses have no hard surface covering typical of a dry cured cheese. Fiordilatte
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Podolica cow, descending from Bos Primigenius, lives in the inland areas of Southern Italy including Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park. Caciocavallo prepared with its milk has been named after this cow; however, according to some hypotheses, it comes from the provola maturation process carried out astride horizontal poles, thus “cacio a cavallo”. The aging process may take from months to years. It has a thin and smooth rind with a color going from white alabaster for greener cheese to amber yellow.
Cacioricotta is a characteristic cheese of Cilento e Vallo di Diano National Park. It is obtained from mixed goat and sheep milk or from goat milk, in the period between June and August, at the end of the sheep lactation. It has been named after its production technique. It has a cylindrical shape with flat sides and a slightly wrinkled crust. The color goes from off-white to straw yellow. It has a compact texture, without holes, and slightly grainy. It has an intense taste and can be eaten fresh or grated on pasta.
Caciocavallo Silano PDO is a semi-hard cheese with spun dough, produced with cow’s milk obtained from different breeds, among which Podolica, a local autochthonous breed of the Southern Apennines inland. The PDO label was obtained from the European Union in 1996.
Muzzarella co’ a murtedda is a traditional product of lower Cilento and derives from the processing of cow milk. The ancient habit to preserve mozzarella in small branches of “mortedda” or “mortella”, the dialect name of the myrtle (Myrtus communis), probably derives from the need to preserve and transport it from the pastures where it was produced to the town. The shrub, widespread both in the beech forest undergrowth and in the Mediterranean maquis characterizing the production area, gives the cheese a matchless aroma. It is a spun cheese exclusively made with cow milk. Mozzarelle are prepared alternating them with myrtle small branches bound at the edges with broom sprouts or other spontaneous essences. They have an ellipsoidal or spherical shape, a porcelain white color, and a smooth and shiny surface. The compact texture has a slightly acidulous taste with a delicate aroma due to the myrtle.
For centuries, sheep milk has always been transformed into cacio. It has a cylindrical shape, a hard and wrinkled crust with a golden yellow color. The white texture is compact, with rare holes with a small diameter. It has a persistent and slightly spicy taste if well matured and a pungent odor rich in aromas, due to the pasture. It can be eaten fresh, as table cheese, or, after a long maturation period, grated on the pasta to enhance its taste.
Buffalo mozzarella (Italian: mozzarella di bufala) is a 
Fior di latte (written also as fiordilatte) is used to distinguish the mozzarella made from cow’s milk from that made from buffalo’s milk. When slightly desiccated (partially dried), the structure becomes more compact; then it is better used to prepare dishes cooked in the oven, for example lasagna. When twisted to form a plait it is called treccia. It is also available in smoked (called affumicata) and reduced-moisture packaged varieties. There are now offered a number of variations, such as “stuffed mozzarella”, filled with 
