The Provola dei Nebrodi DOP is one of the oldest cheeses in Sicily. It originates as a product of a typical mountain farming area covering three provinces of the Island: Enna, Catania, and Messina.
Provola dei Nebrodi DOP in history
The characteristics of this stretched curd cow’s milk cheese have been passed down orally, from generation to generation, since the early 1800s. Historians have also celebrated its typicality. Particular importance is given to the writings of the Priest Gaetano Salomone from 1870 and 1872, in ‘The Theoretical-Practical Manual of Agriculture and Pastoralism, adapted to the popular intelligence of the people of the Mistretta district’, which already at the end of the 19th century described the traditional production methods of Provola dei Nebrodi. Processes still current.
Other historians have studied and reported on this extraordinary cheese. Antonino Uccello is remembered in ‘Bovari, Pecorai, Curatuli: Cheese culture in Sicily’ (1980) and Giuseppe Martorana in ‘I Vistiamara‘ (1988). In their essays, the authors trace the determining factors of the uniqueness of Provola dei Nebrodi DOC. Which lie both in the spontaneous and cultivated pasture essences of the area of origin, and in the constant and loyal practices adopted by the cheesemaker in the cheesemaking and maturation processes.
Essences of Sicily
The type of farming over the centuries has always been based on herds of Modicana and Cinisaria cows. These breeds, both indigenous, have triple aptitude and produce little milk but of very high quality for cheese production.
The feeding of the herds varies throughout the year. The pasture, hay, undergrowth plants, dry residues from pastures and meadows have always allowed animals to use various types of spontaneous forage plants from Nebrodi. To these are added the minor cereals (broad beans, carob, and other grain legumes with adequate protein content), cultivated in the remaining territory of the island.
During the harsh winters, cereals and forage were administered using a method called 'sacchina'. That is, by means of a jute sack tied widely to the animal's head until the meal was completed.
Aging up to one year
Among the island provolas, the PDO of the Nebrodi is the only one with aging prolonged up to one year. The Ragusan provola, for example, is usually consumed as fresh cheese or at most with aging not exceeding three months, after immersion in brine.
The aging Unusually long was initially a mandatory choice. Produced in mountainous areas, the provola of Nebrodi was necessarily preserved when adverse weather conditions prevented descending to the valley to sell at local markets. For the same reason, the size of the forms was increased up to 10 kg, in order to favor the maturation processes and protect the cheese, subjected to coating with olive oil, a technique also used in the production of other island cheeses such as caciocavallo.ragusano or ibleo.
Description of the product to be regulated
As the regulations state, the Provola dei Nebrodi PDO (registered in September 2020) is a cow's milk stretched-curd cheese produced according to the following types: fresh, semi-aged, aged, with leaf and with lime. The weight ranges from 2 to 10 kg, except for the fresh type, which varies from 1 to 2 kg.
The taste is decidedly pleasant, sweet, delicate for the fresh forms; as the aging progresses, a growing spicy and savory note becomes evident.
The aroma, as the aging progresses, releases marked aromatic components. Predominant notes are green-herbaceous, hay, buttery, mushrooms, testifying to a strong connection with the territory and the fodder essences.
The appearance
The appearance is defined as follows: smooth, thin, compact rind, free of pitting and folds, cream-colored tending towards straw, which becomes more or less intense yellow-golden as aging progresses.
The paste It is soft for the Fresh type, from semi-hard to hard as aging progresses, ivory-white in color which becomes yellow-amber with maturation progress for the other types. At advanced aging, it may present the classic flaking, showing a lamellar structure, so much so that it has historically been defined as the Nebrodi Provola Flake. The Green Lemon provola instead maintains a softer structure, although tending towards semi-hard as aging progresses due to the slow release of moisture fromlemon incorporated into the dough. A slight small-sized eyeing is allowed.
The production process
The entire process of production of Nebrodi provola, from the selection of milk to aging, is described as follows.
Coagulation
The bovine milk whole raw, from one or two milkings, must be coagulated at a temperature of 36°C, with a fluctuation no greater than 2-3°C, leveraging the spontaneous development of native cheese microflora.
In the case where cheesemaking occurs once a day, the evening milking milk is filtered and stored in a specific isothermal tank and refrigerated at 4-6°C. The next day, the evening milk, heated to 37-38°C, is combined with the morning milking milk.
The coagulation of the milk takes place in the wooden vat through the addition of paste rennet from kid or lamb. The quantity of rennet is 50-100 g per hundred kilograms of milk, dissolved in an aqueous sodium chloride solution. The amount of solution used must allow a setting, coagulation, and firming time of 45 to 60 minutes.
Breaking of the curd and syneresis
The breaking of the curd is done manually with a wooden wheel, ‘rotella‘, or other materials according to the customs and traditions of the local area, until the curd is reduced to the size of a grain of rice. During breaking, hot water at about 75°C ±5°C is added, at a rate of 10-15 liters per hectoliter of milk.
After a short rest, 5-10 minutes, the cheesemaker, through rotary movements with the ‘rotella‘, promotes the precipitation of the curd to the bottom of the wooden vat and the surfacing of the whey (lacciata). The whey is then transferred into the boiler.
Scalding
The curd is subjected to scalding with the liquid resulting from ricotta processing (scotta) or with water at a temperature not below 65-70°C. The operation takes place directly in the vat or on a flat surface that allows maximum draining.
After 3-4 hours, when the temperature of the scotta or water used has dropped between 34 and 38°C, the curd is manually extracted and placed on a spreading table preferably made of wood, ‘tavuliere‘, and covered with a linen or cotton cloth.
Maturation of the curd
The maturation of the curd takes place in the spersorio table (tavuliere) through a natural acidification process lasting 16-24 hours, during which the curd continues to lose whey and slowly ferments to reach a pH suitable for spinning.
At this stage, the curd is subjected to pressing with weights of various types according to the cheesemaker's traditions.
Preparation for spinning
Verified the right degree of natural fermentation (pH 5-5.4) for spinning, the cheesemaker cuts the curd into slices 5-10 cm wide and 2-3 cm thick. He places them in a shallow container, the ‘piddiaturi, covered with hot whey or hot water at 80-90°C. This is followed by a rest of 5-10 minutes, in the container covered with a linen or cotton cloth, (the duration depends on the ambient temperature). Using a wooden spatula with a wide surface, ‘manuvedda‘, the cheesemaker mixes the curd slices with the whey (or with water).
The cheesemaker checks the right level of spinning, by hand and with the help of the ‘manuvedda‘. Thus begins the processing of the curd, to promote the fusion of the slices to obtain a homogeneous cheesy mass in spherical shape (large ball).
Shaping
The cheesy sphere is then cut into the desired size (proportional to the final weight of the single provola) and placed to soak at the bottom of the ‘piddiaturi‘. Each piece is then worked manually, ‘ncuppatina‘, to form the provola with an outer surface free of cracks and sealed at one pole. For closing (sealing) the provola, as well as for the possible (according to local traditions) shaping of the provola’s head, the cheesemakers use hot whey. After sealing, the cheesemaker immerses the provola in cold water and places it in the brine tank.
For the lemon version, the cheesemaker incorporates a whole green lemon into the heart of the cheesy dough, after scalding it in hot whey.
Salting
The salting In brine lasts 12-24 hours per kg of cheese depending on the size of the wheels. In any case, the sodium content on the dry matter must not exceed 4%.
To the brine follows immersion for 5-10 minutes in cold water. The provolas are then hung by the neck, with a small natural fiber cord, in pairs ‘small branches‘ straddling a pole and/or supporting beam.
Maturation
The duration of the aging depends on the weight of the provola. The environments, fresh and ventilated, are related to the climatic conditions of the Nebrodi mountain areas. Winters are long and fairly harsh and summers mild and not sultry.
The rainfall ranges from 500 to 1400 mm. The average annual temperatures are 12-14°C with significant fluctuations between winter and summer, characterized by highs of 25-28°C and humidity at 60-90%. These variations shape the structural and aromatic profile, giving the provola a flavour marked.
Saverio Giuseppe Agosta
Chief veterinarian at S.I.A.O.A. (Animal Origin Food Hygiene Service) at ASP No. 7 of Ragusa.
