The name of this cheese comes from the cane baskets, the so-called fiscelle, in which it is left to mature. The rind is yellow brown in colour, it is strong and thick and can be wrinkly or smooth; the paste is pale yellow in colour, darker when mature; at the last stage of the process, it is cured in extra-virgin olive oil. Its flavour is distinctively spicy and quite sharp when mature, while it is milder when fresh. Sea salt from the saltworks of Margherita di Savoia is used for the essential salting process. The paste is thick, quite crumbly, moderately melting, poorly elastic, with barely visible fat holes. The kid rennet which gives it its distinctive flavour is dried and stored in dried orange and lemon rinds and nettle leaves.
Matches - How to consume it:
Fresh Canestrato Pugliese is matured for about ninety days, then served with broad beans, pears or raw vegetables with oil dips, matched with still white or rosé wines. Mature Canestrato Pugliese instead is grated to add taste to pasta dishes with meat sauces or served in slivers as a main course with radishes, olives, chicory and celery, matched with full-bodied, aged wines, such as Chianti or Salice Salentino del Conero, insofar as they are not too tannic.
How to recognize it:
Genuine Canestrato pugliese DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) can be recognised from its peculiar moulding marks, with special imprints, and the stamp with the name of the product on the flat face.
When to find it:
All year round
Notes:
The paste of Canestrato pugliese is shaped in special moulds that give it its distinctive cylindrical shape with flat faces; it is made of whole milk from “gentile di Apulia” sheep that are related to merino sheep.
Sources: By the editorial staff Updated on: 14/07/2010
Project created in collaboration with InnovaPuglia.
Regione Puglia
Regione Puglia