APULICA / MEATS AND CURED MEATS
Podolica cow of the Gargano
Slow Food Presidium · Meats and cured meats · Puglia
In brief
- A hardy cattle breed descended from the aurochs, spread across the South and established above all in Puglia and on the Gargano, where it was called the Apulian ox. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Vacca podolica del Gargano)
- Raised free-range, it gives little milk and flavourful, fibrous meat with yellow fat from carotene-rich grazing. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Vacca podolica del Gargano)
- The meat needs proper hanging; the milk is used for ricotta and caciocavallo podolico. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Vacca podolica del Gargano)
- Meat and cheeses are available all year. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Vacca podolica del Gargano)
History and origin
The Podolica is an ancient breed of cattle descending directly from the aurochs, Bos primigenius. There are several theories about its origin: one has it arriving in Italy in 452 AD with the Huns, by way of Podolia, a region of today's Ukraine that gave it its name; another considers it older still, on the evidence of finds showing long-horned cattle similar to the aurochs.
What is certain is that by the fifth century this type of cattle was found throughout the peninsula, from Istria to Calabria, but it became established above all in Puglia and especially on the Gargano, so much so that it was also called the "Puglia" breed. For centuries it served many purposes: draught power in the fields, meat and milk, which was turned into caciocavallo.
Its hardiness helped it spread; later, the very traits that suited modern farming poorly, such as low milk yield and difficulty living indoors, reduced its numbers. Today the Gargano Podolica cow is a Slow Food Presidium, set up to protect and encourage its breeding.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Vacca podolica del Gargano · Atlante PAT Puglia (Università di Bari, Regione Puglia) — Carne podolica
Area and method of production
The Gargano's vast pastures carry around 21,000 cattle, some of which also use the woods at certain times of year. Among the breeds, pride of place goes to the Podolica, raised free-range on the promontory's uplands. The Gargano National Park counts about 350 animals entered in the herd book, with another 300 being registered.
The Podolica makes use of resources other cattle would leave: scrubby pastures, maquis, stubble, woodland grasses and undergrowth. It is a "maternal" breed, highly fertile and calving without assistance; gestation lasts nine months and calves stay at pasture with their mothers until weaning, which does not happen before eight months.
It gives little milk, and only at certain times, but the milk is very aromatic and goes into ricotta and caciocavallo podolico. The meat needs proper ageing, left to the butcher's experience.
Sources: Ente Parco Nazionale del Gargano — Vacca podolica · Atlante PAT Puglia (Università di Bari, Regione Puglia) — Carne podolica · Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Vacca podolica del Gargano
How to recognise it
At pasture the Podolica is unmistakable: it has a straight profile, wide horns and a characteristic grey coat, lighter or darker, over black-pigmented skin. Calves, by contrast, are born reddish, a colour called fromentino, which they keep until four to six months. Both bulls and cows have slightly curved horns. It is also a long-lived breed, with an average life of 13-14 years.
The meat has a strong character. Its colour is deep red and its fat yellow, because the animals graze on carotene-rich plants absent from feed and silage. Its texture is more fibrous and firm than that of young stall-raised cattle, its taste more intense and savoury, and it is rich in minerals. These traits come straight from free-range grazing.
Sources: Ente Parco Nazionale del Gargano — Vacca podolica · Atlante PAT Puglia (Università di Bari, Regione Puglia) — Carne podolica · Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Vacca podolica del Gargano
In the kitchen
Podolica meat is very savoury and suits every kind of dish, provided its nature is respected. Because it is firmer, it needs proper ageing: an experienced butcher decides how long to hang it and suggests the right cuts for each way of cooking.
The Podolica's milk gives ricotta and above all caciocavallo podolico, a semi-hard stretched-curd cheese which on the Gargano usually weighs about two kilos and has an egg shape with a small head. Young, it tastes sweet, turning piquant as it ages; the milk, scarce but full of the scents of wild vegetation, gives it an unmistakable character.
Meat and cheeses are available all year, and together they bring to the table a way of farming tied to free grazing on the promontory's uplands.
Sources: Atlante PAT Puglia (Università di Bari, Regione Puglia) — Carne podolica · Ente Parco Nazionale del Gargano — Vacca podolica · Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Vacca podolica del Gargano · Ente Parco Nazionale del Gargano — Caciocavallo podolico
Where to taste it
On the Gargano, Podolica cows live free-range on the uplands of Rignano Garganico, Monte Sant'Angelo, San Marco in Lamis, San Nicandro Garganico, Mattinata and Carpino, and on the Santa Tecla estate at Vieste. Seeing them graze among woods and maquis is, as the Park puts it, one of the privileges of visiting the promontory.
Two food festivals are devoted to the Podolica and its products: the Sagra della mucca podolica e del caciocavallo podolico in Rignano Garganico and the Sagra della carne e del caciocavallo podolico in Carpino. The meat can also be found at local farms, agriturismi and butchers.
Podolica herds are also found on the Murgia near Bari, around Noci, Santeramo in Colle and Putignano, and on the Murgia near Taranto, around Mottola: the breed thus links the Gargano with the interior of central Puglia.
Sources: Ente Parco Nazionale del Gargano — Vacca podolica · Atlante PAT Puglia (Università di Bari, Regione Puglia) — Carne podolica · Ente Parco Nazionale del Gargano — Caciocavallo podolico
Protection
- Slow Food Presidium — vacca-podolica-del-gargano (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Vacca podolica del Gargano)
When
- Traditionally eaten: all year round (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Vacca podolica del Gargano)
Where
Gargano
Gargano: villages, woodland and coast.
Read the guide →Photo: Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons — CC0 · Resized and converted to WebP.
