Belicino

Product included in the national list of traditional agri-food products (PAT)

PAT type: Cheeses

Production area: Municipalities of Calatafimi, Castelvetrano, Poggioreale, Salaparuta, Campobello di Mazara, Gibellina, S. Ninfa, Petrosino, Salemi.

Technical data sheet of the traditional agri-food product (PAT)

Area of ​​production: Municipalities of Calatafimi, Castelvetrano, Poggioreale, Salaparuta, Campobello di Mazara, Gibellina, S. Ninfa, Petrosino, Salemi.

Brief description of the product: Compact cheese made with Valle del Belice sheep's milk with the addition of Nocellara del Belice olives, previously aged in saturated brine and then pitted. The size varies from 1 to 5 Kg.

Processing Technology: The sheep's milk from one or two milkings at a temperature of about 36 ° C is coagulated in wooden vats with the aid of 60g lamb rennet paste. per 100 liters of milk, after about 25-30 minutes the curd is broken with the help of a wooden tool "patella" into small fragments like lentils and at the same time hot water is introduced at a temperature of about 50 ° C to increase the temperature of the cheese mass. Then the cheesy mass is placed in rush or plastic basins with the addition of Nocellara del Belice olives and then placed in the hot sheet for about 4 hours.

The next day it is immersed in saturated brine for a variable period depending on the size, 12 hours per kg. When it comes out of the brine, it is dried for 24 hours and then can be sent for consumption, in fact it is a cheese that is eaten fresh.

Specific material and equipment used: Wooden vat, wooden stick (patella), trellis of reeds (cannara), rattan or plastic baskets, wooden boards, tinned copper or steel boiler, direct wood or gas fire.

Processing, storage and seasoning rooms: Processing and storage rooms must be healthy and hygienically acceptable.

Elements proving that the methodologies have been practiced in a homogeneous way and according to traditional rules for a period of not less than 25 years: Belicino is a cheese that has deep roots in the territory of the Valle del Belice Sicily. Its origin dates back to the post-war period, even if only in the last forty years it has reached a significant production to capture the interest of Sicilian dairy technicians.

Source Pat Cards: Sicily Region 

Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero

Information contributions: Web, Region of Sicily

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