filiano cheese in culture aut13 cheesemaker

7/29/2019 Filiano cheese in Culture AUT13 Cheesemaker

1/8


2/8

AUTUMN 13 culturecheesemag.c

BasilicaasBoerIn bucolic southern Italy, a cheesemaker leads the charge

to increase awareness of Pecorino di Filiano DOPWrien byKatie AberbachPhgraphed byMassimo Vicinanza


3/8

66 culturecheesemag.com AUTUMN 13

Yu migh tinkthat after living in the same breathtakingly

beautiful Basilicata region of southern Italyfor his entire 49 years, Giovanni Samela

could be blas about showing visitors

around.Yet when I visit him this past June to

learn about his traditional style of cheese-

making, its clear that he isnt just goingthrough the motions. We tour castles,

pastures, museums, and churches, and not

once does the cheesemaker let on that hes

anything but enthralled. In fact, he suppliesa deluge of information about the local

culture, natural world, and cuisinenone of

which Id been able to learn from guidebooksbeforehand; this region (also called Lucania

by locals) is relatively tourist-free.

One minute Samela would be pointingout tiny strawberries alongside a nature trail.

The next hed deliver a history lesson on King

Frederick II, who left his mark on the region

in the 13th century with a series of imposing

hilltop castles. You can purportedly stillobserve the Germanic kings inuence in the

blue eyes of some locals, including Samela.

I doubt there could be a better ambassa-dor for the regionor for its cheese. Raised

in a family thats made cheese forever,

Samela and his wife Carmella own a localfactory producing Pecorino di Filiano DOP.

The cheese was granted its Denominazione

di Origine Protetta (Protected Designation of

Origin, indicating particular-to-a-regionproduction) status in 2007 but just recently

began enjoying distribution to the United

States, including along the West Coast andin New York. Samela was active in the effort

to obtain the DOP designation and is now

working to expand the cheeses reach.My parents, grandparents, great-grand-

parents produced this cheese, Samela says.

One hundred years ago in Basilicata,

above: The Pietra del Sale cheese factory is inside a nondescript stone building in Avigliano, Italy.

opposite page: Cheesemaker Giovanni Samela holds a wheel of his Pecorino di Filiano DOP.


4/8

AUTUMN 13culturecheesemag.c


5/8


99 percent of the inhabitants made this cheese. Today,he says, there have been slight changes in how its

produced, but the taste is the same: salty and slightly

tangy, with whispers of wine and earth and herbs andmushrooms, inuenced by the areas mineral-rich

volcanic soil. It holds its own against locally producedAglianico wine and makes a rich addition to pastas and

salads. But I think the rm cheese is best enjoyed in achunk by itself. Its the taste of this region, Samela says.

the path to protection

Many Italian towns and territories have their own styles

of pecorino, a cheese made from sheeps milk, whose

name comes from pecora (sheep). Pecorino Romano, forinstance, is produced outside Rome. Pecorino di Filiano

is named after the village of Filiano, in the same Potenza

territory as Samelas business.

Traditionally, this pecorino was reserved for specialoccasions because it was time-consuming to produce,

and therefore expensive. Yet its deeply ingrained in the

culture and consciousness.Theres an ancient adage about pecorino that Samela

relays one day as we eat fresh fava beans. It goes some-

thing like this: Dont let the farmer discover how goodpecorino tastes with fava beans (or else hell eat it all!).

At another meal I mention to one of Samelas acquain-

tances that Im researching Pecorino di Filiano. His face

lights up. The poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus wroabout our pecorino, he says. (Flaccus lived here in

rst century BC and praised an unspecied local c

The process of obtaining the DOP designation Pecorino di Filiano was not easy. Samela and other

semakers began their application to Italys ministryagriculture and the European Union back in 1997.

needed to research and outline ofcial steps for thcheeses production.

According to the rules that all parties settled on

cheesemaker must use milk from certain breeds of(Gentile, Leccese, Comisana, Sarda) raised on loca

pastures. He or she must stick to specic productio

techniques, including placing the newly formed chinto an enclosed vessel or box to steam while the

still warm (this expedites the expulsion of whey).

Pecorino di Filiano must be aged at least six mo

before it can receive a special F stamp on its rindsignify its DOP status. And every cheesemaker in t

consortium of DOP producers must submit to bo

regular and random checks by ofcials to ensure ththeir facilities and equipment are operated in sanit

and appropriate ways.

Although the designation was a milestone for Sand others producing Pecorino di Filiano, nothing a

changed for their businesses. At least, not right aw

Weve always produced this cheese, Samela sa

this page: Inside the

Pietra del Sale factory,

Dino Rocco and Carmella

Samela stir curds, left.

Next, Giovanni Samela

helps transfer curds out

of a vat as Carmella andRocco press curds into

molds, right. opposite

page: Pietra del Sale

produces pecorino, left,

ricotta, center, and goat

cheeses. At another

factory producing

Pecorino di Filiano, the

wheels are formed in rush

baskets called "fuscelle

di giunco," right.


6/8


never had the possibility to differentiate itself from others

in the market. Obviously, it got the lowest price. Nowthat we have the DOP... His voice trails off, and hesmiles. Now his cheese earns more.

particularities of production

Samela invites me to get a hands-on understanding of

what makes Pecorino di Filiano so special at his Pietra delSale caseicio (cheese factory). So on a bright morning

I arrive at an unlabeled stone building in Avigliano. As

soon as I open the door, Im surrounded by dense, cream-

scented air. Carmella and employee Dino Rocco arealready midway through their days work. Samela and I

tie on aprons and watch as the two use long wooden

poles to stir hot curds in a massive vat.Suddenly they nod at each other and stop. The curds

have arrived at their ideal ricelike shape and size. Samela

transfers them to a waist-high metal container with tinyholes on the bottom (to drain whey), and Carmella shows

me how to ll plastic molds with warm curds. She pushesa handful into a mold, gives two or three rm downward

pushes, then rotates the mold. Scoop, pat down, patdown, rotate; repeat. Splash, squish, squish.

Some producers form cheeses in traditionalfuscelledi giunco (woven baskets of rush), which imprint designson the rind. But its not a requirement, and we dont use

them today. Incidentally, the containers are increasingly

rare. The one man who knows how to make them is

getting old, and young people today arent interested inlearning about this type of thing, says Michele Lanza,

whose San Francisco-based company Fresca Italia

distributes Pecorino di Filiano and who grew up in theregion, also in a family that made this type of cheese.

Once weve lled all the molds, we leave the wheelsto compress under their own weight. Theyll be ipped afew times throughout the morning and later steamed and

dunked in saltwater brine. Next theyll join hundreds of

other wheels in the adjacent aging rooms. Twice duringthe aging process, the wheels will be rubbed with olive

oil and vinegar to impart additional avor and prevent

drying out.

Like generations before him, Samelalearned to make cheese from his motheHe recalls being four years old andinterrupting her as she stirred curds.Let me make cheese!


7/8



8/8


tra dition Meets in novation

Like generations before him, Samela learned to make

cheese from his mother. He recalls being four years old

and interrupting her as she stirred curds. Let me makecheese! he pleaded. She handed him afuscella di g iunco

and some warm curds and helped him press them into asmall disc, which they ate.

His mother retired 15 years ago, which was aroundthe time when Samela began. He named his factory after

his familys popular Pietra del Sale restaurant. Situated

at an elevation of about 3,300 feet in Avigliano, therestaurant takes its salt rock name from an ancient

stone fountain on the property that once stored salt.

Samela and his four siblings opened the restaurant onSeptember 3, 1993. When we started, other restaurants

around here were doing, maybe, Milanese-style lamb.

But that doesnt come from Basilicata, Samela says.

Our philosophy was to serve only local foods and to useproducts that came from our land. It was an incredible

success because people had arrived at a moment where

they understood the value of eating locally.Today three of Samelas siblings, Leonardo, Vincenzo,

and Donata, manage the restaurant. A fourth, Carmine,

tends the family ock of sheep and goats. Samela usesCarmines sheeps milk to make Pecorino di Filiano. He

supplies some cheese to the restaurant, but the majority

is sold to Fresca Italia for international distribution.

His milk supply is reliable, but its not enough to ahim to increase his output. Thats part of what led

to begin work in 2010 to unite the many individua

who are (or could be) part of the chain of productioPecorino di Filiano, including shepherds, cheesem

and distributors.Currently, 20 different farms and four cheesem

participate in theliera (industry) project, but Samexpects more to join. It will provide an online tracea

system, so that one day a consumer can look up a

particular wheel and learn about the animals and pthat created it. Theres a benet for each participat

producer, too: Since some payment will be given u

front, nobody must wait months to turn a prot. Saand Lanza are also working on creating a larger fac

for aging participants Pecorino di Filiano; it may h

public visiting and tasting areas.

The scope of this project is to have an economimpact on the area, Lanza says. To help farmers m

up for their expenses. To help companies renance

renovate, and improve their equipment. Everybodywill be more cohesive in getting the DOP Pecorino

the market.

And the ultimate objective, Samela says, is to pride for this land. We love this cheese, and we wa

people to know not just about this cheese but also

about Basilicata. c

above: Organized by the dates on which they were made, Pecorino di Filiano wheels age inside a cave near Filiano, Italy.

opposite page: Samela's Pecorino di Filiano DOP has a salty, earthy avor, with hints of herbs, wine, and mushrooms.

filiano cheese in culture aut13 cheesemaker

Documents