Cheese, glorious cheese! Sheep’s milk cheese that is. In 2018, I wrote a nine part series about cheese making. “Let’s Talk Cheese” can be viewed starting at https://experiencesicily.com/2018/07/08/lets-talk-cheese-part-1/ Once you read Part 1, scroll to the bottom of the ExperienceSicily.com page to “Next Post” to continue. I know you never took cheese for granted before…
Tag: cheese
Spring Countryside View In Sicily
The countryside of Salemi, Trapani Province, Sicily Green spring grasses + Sheep = Excellent sheep’s milk cheese! (Tuma, Pecorino, Pecorino stagionale, Ricotta, Ricotta salata, Vastedda del Belice … )
A Day In The Mountains | Stirring Sicily, Day 6
Live from Sicily! Stirring Sicily, Day 6: A Day in the Mountains..Breathtaking views over Caccamo and Termini Imerese, a farm visit (tasting fresh ricotta out of the cauldron and tomatoes off the vine!), grilling up the freshest sausage you’ll ever taste (we watched (and helped!) the butcher make it, we bought it, we grilled it!),…
Cheese, Glorious Tuma Persa Cheese
Cheese, glorious tuma persa cheese! Even my Sicilian cousin Evelina didn’t know what tuma persa was when I mentioned it to her this summer. It’s *that* unique! Back in July, during our heritage experience day with a family from New Jersey who have roots in Castronovo di Sicilia, our guide Pierfilippo organized a wonderful visit…
Find Your Roots In Sicily
Helping Americans with Sicilian heritage connect to Sicily while researching their roots is one of the most rewarding parts of what we do at Experience Sicily. It is not simply finding names of relatives in the town hall and obtaining official birth certificates. This of course is important; however, I also want you to feel…
LIVE, Day 5, Stirring Sicily East: The Land Teaches Us
We saw the landscape where they graze. We now understand their daily milking routine. We learned how their milk is used to make different cheeses. We tasted the cheeses made from all of these elements and the air and sun. Thank you to these gentle sheep for giving us sustenance!
Let’s Talk Cheese: Part 9
In the Valle del Belice in Trapani Province, Sicily, they produce a DOP (Denominazione d’Origine Protetta or Protected Designation of Origin) certified “pasta filata” (stretched/pulled) cheese called Vastedda della Valle del Belice. The name, vastedda, comes from the local Sicilian language–vasta means “gone bad.” In other words, the cheese is made from pecorino cheese that…
Let’s Talk Cheese: Part 8
So, my tips when visiting the caseificio/cheese maker/dairy farm is to arrive early (8:30? You’ll have to ask their schedule.) to watch the process. But most importantly, to taste the tuma and ricotta right off of the draining table, when it’s still warm. Go hungry, and bring with you a few rolls of freshly baked,…
Let’s Talk Cheese: Part 7
Once the curds have formed and have begun to float to the top of the mixture in the cauldron, the cheese maker is on a schedule. Careful to not overcook the curds, he removes them from the heat and then methodically scoops the now ricotta cheese into a different set of plastic baskets that are…
Let’s Talk Cheese: Part 6
If you’ll recall from Part 4 of this series, when the cheese maker pressed the curds in the baskets, from them whey drained into a bucket below the stainless steal, angled tub. Let’s talk about what happens with that liquid, which is sheep’s milk that has been heated and treated with a cocktail of good…