Nothing Cheesy About Sicily

Oldways is an organization devoted to preserving food-making traditions, particularly in the Mediterranean basin. Some years ago, I was on an Oldways trip to Morocco, with the focus on olive oil. In June 2004, I and 20 or so other writers and food professionals traveled to Ragusa, Sicily to attend Cheese Art 2004, a biannual festival showcasing traditional cheese making.

The prime mover behind Cheese Art, held in the historic Donnafugata castle, is CoRFiLaC, a dairy research center founded in 1996 to bring technological and research assistance to small farmers who otherwise would not be able to afford it and would thus eventually go out of business, unable to compete with larger, more mechanized farms. It’s quite a remarkable idea, really. Instead of using technology to make food more industrial, more efficient, and thus, more unappealing, CoRFiLaC is using it to preserve traditional (meaning hands on) methods, which result in more authentic and flavorful products.

When one thinks of Sicilian cheeses, sheep’s  milk cheese usually comes to mind first. But CoRFiLaC’s main focus is cow’s milk cheese, particularly Ragusano cheese, named after the town of Ragusa. The rectangular Ragusano is one of several pasta filata cheeses from the area. Pasta filata cheeses are so named because the cheese curds are stretched or pulled. It was quite interesting to see how the flavor of Ragusano changes with age, from a mild, provolone type cheese when young (3 months or less) to a spicier, sharper and more complex cheese as it ages for one year and beyond. Try Ragusano with a glass of Nero d’Avola, Sicily’s best red wine.

Two other interesting Sicilian cheeses I discovered were Tuma Persa and Maiorchino. Tuma Persa can be made from cows or sheep’s milk. Several versions I tried were delicious, the best a nutty and complex 2 1/2 year old. Maiorchino is a hard, sheep’s milk cheese that has a nutty, almost Parmigiano-like texture and sweetness.

By the way, Ragusa is a picturesque hill town in Southeastern Sicily with a split personality, literally. In 1693, the town was cut in half by an earthquake. The newer part of town, called Ragusa Superiore, is separated from Ragusa Ibla, the less developed but utterly charming part, by a chasm spanned by several bridges. It’s great fun to walk down to Ibla, but bring good walking shoes.

For more information on Oldways, go to its web site,  www.oldwayspt.org.

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