caprino

Made of goat's (sometimes with an addition of cow's) milk, this cheese is sold either fresco (fresh) and stagionato (seasoned).

Goat cheeses vary widely in taste, consistency and uses, including the following (the first five are in the Slow Food Presidium):

caprino di Montefalcone del Sannio: made in the Abruzzo and Molise with its curd pressed into the whey left over from the making of ricotta, then aged for two months in a wooden holder. The result has a wrinkly yellow rind with a chalky texture.

caprino dell'Aspromonte: from Calabria, cut into curds, strained and then placed into rush baskets, and usually aged to produce a table cheese.

caprino ossolano: a raw goat's milk cheese that nearly disappeared but is now made again between March and October in the Ossola valleys of Piedmont. It is aged three days and has a firm texture with a yellow rind.

caprino di Cavalese: made in the Cavalese valley of Trentino, salted and aged in a cellar.

caprino di Rimella: cylinder shaped, pungent, and made in Piedmont, especially in Vercelli province.

caprino della Valbrevenna: a fresh white cheese produced in September and October in the provinces of Cuneo (Piedmont) and Imperia (Liguria).

caprino della Limina: prized cheese from Calabria; little crusty brown rolls, used with pasta and oven dishes.

quenelle di caprino: fresh goat cheese generally mixed with fresh herbs and shaped like elongated eggs, or quenelles

In Sicily, around Campobello di Licata you will see caprino flavoured with pistachios or grapes: caprino al pistacchio and caprino all'uva.