Canestrato Pugliese

History and origin

Canestrato Pugliese is a child of transhumance. For centuries, every autumn, flocks came down from Abruzzo's mountain pastures to the milder grazing of the Tavoliere plain along the tratturi, the great grassy droving tracks, and went back up in summer. The cheese was made precisely in the months when the sheep wintered in Puglia, from December to May; a verse by the Lucanian historian Giustino Fortunato recalls it, describing the sheep in summer on the Maiella and in winter at Pantanella.

Like other basket cheeses of southern Italy, for a long time it was known almost only in its own area. At the Italian Exhibition in Florence in 1861, basket cheeses were described as highly prized locally but almost unknown elsewhere in the country; only after Italian unification did the cheese begin to make its way nationally.

The name comes from the rush baskets in which the curd takes shape, leaving their pattern on the rind. Today Canestrato Pugliese is a Protected Designation of Origin.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Canestrato Pugliese DOP · Italia.it — I tratturi del Molise

Area and method of production

The production and ageing area takes in the whole province of Foggia and several municipalities in the provinces of Bari and Barletta-Andria-Trani. The cheese is made only from whole sheep's milk, which must come from animals fed on fresh forage or hay from the area's natural pastures, supplemented with hay and only exceptionally with simple feed.

The milk is brought to 38-45 °C and animal rennet is added. When the curd is firm enough it is broken into rice-sized grains, briefly compacted and placed in rush baskets, where it is pressed. After two to four days it is salted, dry or in brine, sometimes in several stages.

Out of the baskets, the cheeses age in cool, lightly ventilated rooms for a minimum of two and up to ten months. The rind is treated with olive oil, sometimes mixed with wine vinegar.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Canestrato Pugliese DOP · Regione Puglia — Produzioni di qualità: Canestrato Pugliese DOP

How to recognise it

Canestrato Pugliese comes in cylindrical wheels of 7 to 14 kilos. The rind is brown verging on yellow, hard, thick and more or less wrinkled: it bears the imprint of the rush baskets, woven tightly enough to let only the whey through and remove excess moisture.

The paste is compact and crumbly, fairly melting and not very elastic, with barely visible small fat holes and a straw colour that deepens with age. The flavour is distinctive and bold: milder and only slightly salty when young, piquant and marked, with a fragrant aroma, when aged.

The name appears on the flat face of the wheel, and the label carries the words Protected Designation of Origin. It is sold whole, in wedges or pre-cut portions.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Canestrato Pugliese DOP · Regione Puglia — Produzioni di qualità: Canestrato Pugliese DOP

In the kitchen

Tradition has it that Canestrato Pugliese is cut into wedges with a special knife called "pigeon breast", and that the pieces are kept wrapped in a damp cotton cloth.

Young, it is a table cheese: it goes with fresh broad beans, pears or raw vegetables in pinzimonio, and with dry, still white or rosé wines. Aged beyond six months, it also becomes a grating cheese and is at its best on pasta with Puglia-style meat ragù, using traditional regional shapes such as orecchiette, ziti, mezzi ziti or lumache, or on meat rolls. It should be grated fresh, straight onto the plate.

Served with fresh or stewed vegetables, it can also make a simple, tasty main course.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Canestrato Pugliese DOP · Regione Puglia — Produzioni di qualità: Canestrato Pugliese DOP

Where to taste it

Canestrato Pugliese's home is Capitanata: the province of Foggia, with the Tavoliere plain where transhumant flocks wintered, lies entirely within the production area, along with several municipalities in the provinces of Bari and Barletta-Andria-Trani.

To understand where this cheese comes from it is worth following the droving tracks that climb from the Tavoliere towards the Apennines. The Tratturo Magno, also called the King's Tratturo, linked L'Aquila with Foggia; the Castel di Sangro-Lucera and Pescasseroli-Candela tracks reach other towns of Capitanata. Along these ancient grassy roads the landscape still tells of the shepherding that gave rise to canestrato.

On the Gargano promontory, part of the province of Foggia, Garganica goat breeders also make a goat's-milk canestrato linked to the breed's Slow Food Presidium: a close relative, made with different milk, well worth tasting.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Canestrato Pugliese DOP · Italia.it — I tratturi del Molise · Ente Parco Nazionale del Gargano — Capra garganica

Protection

• Protected designation of origin (PDO) — PDO-IT-0004 (eAmbrosia — Canestrato Pugliese (PDO-IT-0004))

When

• The sources consulted give no months.

Where

Puglia

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