Cheese making of the vastedda

The production specifications describes every aspect of Vastedda della Valle Belìce PDO, including the production methodology. Download the production specifications
Belice's Breed
The milk to be used is produced from Valle del Belìce sheep fed with fresh fodder, grass from the vineyard rows, branches from the olive tree pruning, prickly pear cladodes or vine leaves after harvest
The cheese paste
The milk heated to 40 ° C is combined with the lamb rennet. within 50 minutes the curd can be broken and then transferred to the molds
The 'Piddiaturi'
When resting for 24-48, the cheese acidifies. The cheese paste can then be extracted, cut into strips and placed in the wooden vat, the piddiaturi
The spun paste
adding hot water therefore begins the spinning process, then the craftsmanship with the wooden shovel, the vaciliatuma, starts
The Tavuleri
Once the dough has been spun, it can be kneaded on the tavuleri , thus obtaining braids which are placed in deep plates. On these plates the pasta settles, and turned a few times takes the characteristic shape
PDO Vastedda
12 hours after spinning, the cheeses are removed from the plate, salted in brine and left to dry for another 12-48 hours

Popular Articles

The DOP brand for the unique ovine spun paste cheese...

The link with the territory, the Vastedda...

Breeders, cheese makers and seasoners. The members...

The legend

An ancient Sicilian dairyman, was working sheep's milk from which to produce cheese, put the pasta in the molds.
When the cheese paste turns sour due to the heat, the old cheesemaker tried to remedy it by putting it in hot water.
Thus was born the first piece of Vastedda della Valle del Belìce

The tradition

The tools used for the cheese making of the Vastedda della Valle del Belìce PDO are traditional historical tools handed down over the course of history.
These are wooden equipment such as the piddiaturi, the tina, the tavuleri, the patella and the stick for spinning or the reeds.
All tools that enrich the milk with a pro-dairy microbial flora that give Vastedda del Belìce, in a natural way, particularity and specificity.
logo Vastedda della Valle del Belìce PDO