From now on it is possible to organize exceptional tastings directly at the holiday home where you are located. You will be able to taste Sician excellence at the lowest possible cost.
The basic tasting includes:
Everything will be delivered directly to you. It is possible to order additional cheese of the types proposed above.
Enna's Piacentinu appears on the scene in the 4th century when it was mentioned by Gallo, a well-known historian of the time, who took the trouble to describe the salting and addition of saffron and black pepper phases. This temporal position would rightfully place it among the oldest cheeses in the entire Italian dairy panorama were it not for the fact that another legend would move its date of birth to a less distant era, namely 1090.
In fact, legend has it that Roger the Norman, in full concern for the depressive crisis that his wife Adelasia was experiencing, asked the cheesemakers in the area to guess the preparation of a cheese with thaumaturgical properties. Since it was known that "Crocus sativus" or saffron had such abilities, the cheesemakers agreed to immerse it in the curd to obtain a cheese the color of gold and with great energizing powers.
In 2013, the Enna Piacentinu, which had already obtained the Designation of Origin, became part of the products protected by the slow food presidium. This entry took place in conjunction with the world dairy event in Bra (CN) and aims to continue producing this very historic cheese without abandoning the original traditional techniques which maintain its incredible structure as well as the peculiar unique exudation, in favor of mechanization and loss of quality.
Provola Ragusana is born from the natural pastures of the Ibleo Plateau, rich in spontaneous fodder essences, a fresh stretched curd cheese with a sweet taste and typical pear shape.
This is one of the oldest cheeses on the island, as abbot Paolo Balsamo testified already in 1808 in his «Journey made in Sicily and particularly in the County of Modica».
This document tells of a thriving dairy tradition of cheeses and ricotta.
Provola Ragusana has been included among the historic Sicilian cheeses, subject to protection from the risk of extinction with Ministerial Decree of 18 July 2000 n. 130.
From the Sicilian slang "Tuma Canziata", as the cheese produced the day before the transhumance was put aside.
The story is that of a cheese that was already produced many centuries ago, but which disappeared from the Sicilian gastronomic panorama for about a century. The last documents that talk about it date back to 1930, and more precisely to a list of cheeses produced in Sicily drawn up by Alberto Romolotti, which also described the production process. “Tuma perduta” read the text, recalling a peculiar cheese from the island that was no longer known at the time.
The cheese that was produced on the last day was placed on wooden planks in the ancient limestone farmhouses, and remained on site without being removed until the flock returned to the site to find it full of mold and with almost no salt. Today the same conditions as in the past have been created to obtain the same results that the shepherds obtained.
The Tuma Canziata has a straw yellow colour, the cooked texture is compact, the rind is slightly covered in mould, and is not edible.
