"Padduni" goat cheese
Product included in the national list of traditional agri-food products (PAT)
PAT Type : Cheeses
Production Area : Entire Sicilian Territory
Technical data sheet of the traditional agri-food product (PAT)
Historical equipment: Wooden vat, wooden stick (rotula), wooden cisca, wooden board, reed baskets (fascedde), tinned copper boiler. Direct wood-gas fire.
Brief historical notes: The origins of this cheese date back to the 11th century BC. Homer mentions a drink made from grated goat's cheese. Aristotle, in the 4th century BC, also dwelt on Sicilian cheesemaking traditions, extolling the flavor of goat's milk mixed with cow's or sheep's milk.
In the Roman period, XNUMXnd century BC, Varro places the accent on the nourishing qualities of goat's milk and goat's cheeses. A hint of the goodness of goat cheese appears in the "Complete course of theoretical, practical and economic agriculture" by Abbot Rozier around the eighteenth century.
The transformation technology is illustrated in the aforementioned book by Campisi.
Type: Raw cheese.
Production area: The entire Sicilian territory.
Main production technology lines:
- species / breed: Goat;
- raw material: Whole milk, raw;
- microflora: Natural;
- rennet: Lamb pasta sometimes of kid;
Prevalent feeding system: Pasture rich in spontaneous essences rarely integrated with stable feeding.
Production techniques: Padduni (Sicilian goat's cheese) differs from "formaggiu ri capra" in its shape (ball vs. cylindrical), weight (300g vs. 3kg), salting, and, above all, maturation (fresh vs. 3 months). The milk curdles in a wooden vat at about 37°C with lamb and/or goat rennet paste for about 45 minutes. Black peppercorns or chili flakes may be added.
The curd is drained with the hands in a very particular wooden container, "cisca", is then seared with hot, formed and salted scotta;
salting: Dry salting over the entire surface of the cheese.
Product characteristics: It has a ball shape, weighs approximately 300 g, and is consumed fresh.
Historical references:
Pliny the Elder: “ Naturalis Historia” (book 11).
Pietro dè Crescenzi: “Liber ruralum commodorum”, 1294.
Homer: “The Odyssey” (Book 9), 10th-9th century BC, Onorato Castellino–Vincenzo Peloso, Officine Grafiche 1950.
Virgil: “Bucolics and Georgics” (Eclogue V and Book 3), 37-30 BC/42-39 BC, Lorenzo Giudice, 1954.
National Institute of Rural Sociology: “Atlas of Typical Products: Cheeses”, Franco Angeli, Milan, 1990.
Campisi Carmelo "Sheep and pecorino of Sicily", Francesco Battiato publisher, Catania, 1933.
Source Pat Cards: Sicily Region
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Informational contributions : Web, Sicily Region
Note : Population of the Heritage database records proceeds in incremental phases: cataloging, georeferencing, and information and image entry. The cultural asset in question has been cataloged and initial information has been entered. To enrich the information content, further contributions are welcome. If you wish, you can contribute through our " Your Contributions " section.