Provola of the Madonie
Product included in the national list of traditional agri-food products (PAT)
PAT type: Cheeses
Production area:
Technical data sheet of the traditional agri-food product (PAT)
Historical equipment: Wooden vat, wooden "patella" stick and / or jug, "cisca" wooden container, wooden knife, cane basket, reed trellis, "appizzatuma" wooden stick, "piddiaturi" wooden container, “manuvedda” wood, wooden boards, tinned copper boiler.
Direct wood-gas fire.
Maturing rooms: The maturing takes place in traditional fresh and ventilated rooms where the cheese is hung on a "horse" of a pole for the entire maturation period.
Brief historical notes: Provola delle Madonie is a historical product of this area whose traditional cheese making technique is illustrated by both Mario Giacomarra and Antonino Uccello.
Type: Stretched curd cheese.
Production: Madonie Mountains (S. Mauro Castelverde, Gangi, Collesano, Caltavuturo, Scillato, Polizzi Generosa, Petralia Sottana, Petralia Soprana, Alimena, Blufi, Bompietro, Isnello, Gratteri, Castelbuono, Geraci Siculo, Polina, Castellana Sicula).
Main production technology lines:
- species / breed: Cow;
- raw material: Whole milk, raw;
- microflora: Natural;
- rennet: Lamb pasta;
prevailing power supply system: Natural and cultivated pasture with integration of fodder and concentrates in the stable.
processing techniques: Provola delle Madonie is still produced in an artisanal way by the expert hands of local cheesemakers who have handed down the ancient dairy techniques from father to son.
It is small in size, about 1 Kg., With a short neck with a ball-shaped head;
salting: Saturated brine;
Seasoning: 10-15 days.
Product features: Thin rind of straw yellow color. The paste is white tending to straw yellow, the consistency is soft and compact. The flavor is sweet and delicate. It weighs about 1-1,2 kg.
Historical references:
Antonino Bird "Cattle, pecorari, curatuli". Dairy culture in Sicily, Stass, Palermo, 1980.
Giacomarra Mario “The shepherds of the Madonie”, Stass, Palermo, 1983.
National Institute of Rural Sociology "Atlas of typical products ":"The cheeses ”, Franco Angeli, Milan, 1990.
CNR: The dairy products of the South, 1992.
Source Pat Cards: Sicily Region
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Information contributions: Web, Region of Sicily
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