Canestrato Pugliese DOP
Friday, 8th May 2009 | 5 Comments
Canestrato Pugliese is a partially cooked hard cheese from Puglia made from the milk of sheep that graze in the Alta Murgia plateau. Its name derives from the canestre (baskets) in which the cheese was placed for aging by the nomadic sheep herders that pioneered its production. The cheese (aged 2-4 months) is treated with olive oil to bring out the basket lines visible on the surface above. It is the only cheese in the region officially recognized as a DOP, a guarantee that the product conforms to certain rules and regulations. That is, it can only be obtained from the milk of free-range ewes that graze in a delimited area of the Alta Murgia, it uses only natural rennet, and must be aged for at least 2 months. The resulting Canestrato Pugliese is compact, sharp, and friable. Pair with Aglianico del Vulture, a red wine produced in nearby Basilicata.
May 8th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Friable? Now that must be a foodie term for the Yale grad
May 8th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
@Michael Slightly crumbly sound better?
July 14th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Hello
Thanks for your information.
I got lots of help from your website when I was doing homework!
July 15th, 2009 at 12:45 am
My pleasure! Are you studying food history?
June 19th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
[...] Martina Franca, orecchiette con cime di rapa, cavatelli con pomodoro e ricotta scante, panzerotti, canestrato, la giuncata, rustici, polenta fritta, crocche di patate, purpu alla pignata, and granita di gelso [...]