How Southern Italy’s Caciocavallo Arginato Cheese Gets Its Renowned Spice by Aging It in Clay Pots
Food journalist Claudia Romero traveled to Ceglie Messapica in Puglia, Italy, where she explained, with the help of cousins Pietro and Pietro at Masseria Fragnite, how the region's renowned Caciocavallo Arginato cheese is made.
She explains how it begins with a whey starter. After that, the fermented curd is stretched (pasta filata), shaped, and hung to dry. When it is fully cooled, the cheese is sealed in a clay mold and put in a humid environment to age. After it has aged about four months, the clay is cracked open like an egg to reveal the cheese's maturity.
Caciocavallo is a traditional cheese made in this part of southern Italy, and it's made with the pasta filata (stretched curd) method that gives it a very special texture. These cheeses typically age in caves where there are already high levels of humidity, but aging it in clay supercharges it: it speeds up the process but also gives it a unique taste. I visited cousin duo Pietro and Pietro at Masseria Fragnite to see how it's made.
The aging process makes this otherwise delicate cheese uniquely spicy.
It has a sweet and delicate flavor, slightly acidic with a salty note. As it matures it takes on a more decisive and spicy flavor. Dry consistency.
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via Book of Joe