Caciocavallo Silano 
Caciocavallo Silano is a stretched-curd cow's milk cheese from southern Italy, made in Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise and Apulia. It has held protected geographical status since 1993 and carries a hard edible rind.
Key Facts
| Country of Origin | Italy |
| Specific Origin | Calabria, Campania, Molise, Apulia, and Basilicata |
| Protection | PDO (1996) |
| Milk Type | Cow's milk |
| Milk Treatment | Raw, may be thermised |
| Fat Content | Not less than 38% of the dry matter |
| Rind | Thin, smooth, straw yellow color |
| Texture | Homogeneous, compact, with very small holes |
| Flavor | Aromatic, pleasant, melts in the mouth, mild when young, pungent when aged |
| Aroma | Aromatic |
| Colors | White or straw yellow paste, darker on the outside and lighter on the inside |
| Forms | Ovoid, truncated cone, cylindrical, parallelepipedal |
| Age | Minimum 30 days; "EXTRA" for at least 4 months, "GRAN RISERVA" for at least 9 months |
| Rennet Type | Calf or kid rennet paste |
What is Caciocavallo Silano Cheese?
Caciocavallo belongs to the pasta filata family, cheeses whose curd is stretched before shaping. It is made across southern Italy, especially in the Apennine Mountains and on the Gargano peninsula, from sheep's or cow's milk. The Silano version uses cow's milk and comes from designated areas in Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise and Apulia. It received protected geographical status in 1993.
The cheese is old. A version of it is thought to have been mentioned by Hippocrates, who praised the cleverness of the Greeks in making cheese. Columella set down the method in detail in De re rustica, written between 35 and 45 CE, which puts caciocavallo among the oldest cheeses anyone still makes.
The name translates as horse cheese. It comes from the habit of tying two forms together with rope and hanging them a cavallo, straddling a horizontal stick or branch, while they mature.
Caciocavallo is shaped like a teardrop and has a hard edible rind. The taste sits close to aged provolone from the same part of Italy.
Several regional types are recognised as prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, among them caciocavallo podolico, made only from the milk of Podolica cattle, caciocavallo di Castelfranco from the Miscano Valley, and caciocavallo di Godrano, also called caciocavallo palermitano. In Sicily, Ragusano DOP had to drop the caciocavallo name to obtain DOP status. Cheeses with similar names exist across the Balkans, but each differs from Caciocavallo Silano and from one another.
How Does Caciocavallo Silano Cheese Compare?
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