Aspromonte Caprino
Italy,
Calabria
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Kids rennet is inoculated into milk heated to a temperature of 36-37°C. Once coagulation has taken place, the soft curd is milled with a curd knife called a ruotolo into granules the size of a grain of rice. When the curd has sunk to the bottom, it is strained off and put in rush baskets, where it is pressed by hand. After a few hours, the firm curd is dry-salted, and the rounds are then left to mature on a rush rack (cannizzo) or a wooden rack in a cool room. The rind, which is white when the cheese is fresh and brownish yellow when mature, is clearly furrowed with marks left by the rush mat. The body of the cheese is white and supple, but tends to harden with maturing. The flavour is mild, with a slightly sourish taste and feral notes. Caprino dAspromonte is sold fresh as a table cheese or mature as a hard cheese for grating.
Rennet: paste, kids
Outer rind: solid, lined by the rush baskets, yellow to grey-brown in colour
Body: uncooked, firm, ivory-white tending to brown in colour
Top and bottom: flat, 18-20 cm in diameter
Height/weight: 6-7 cm / 1-2 kg
Territory of origin:
The municipalities in the Aspromonte area of the province of Reggio Calabria
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