Caciocavallo: a cheese straddling
Eventually, it got off like an acrobat after being hanging on the rope from the roof for sixteen months, give or take a day. I entered the cellar where there were eight of them and only after the go-ahead of Giovanni Gulino, farmer and cheesemaker at Donnafugata: «Yes, this is good, it’s for Sultano». Two years for a caciocavallo is a record. Gulino had the skills and the milk of his Modicanas did the rest. Freshly cut, the caciocavallo emanated a smell of pasture, chamomile, wild herbs, while in the mouth, first it arrived a hint of spiciness, then a complex sweetness.
«It is an excellent cheese – says Carmelo Cilia, refiner and cousin of Gulino – fat, round and with the drop. I wouldn’t hesitate to pair it with a Brunello di Montalcino». «We miss Giovanni Gulino – Ciccio Sultano points out – we miss his words, his gestures, his countryside’s table. A knowledge that I hope someone will pick up and pass on».
Ciccio Sultano
A practical mind
