Cantine Aperte

On the last weekend of May, an annual festival involving more than 800 winegrowers throughout Italy takes place, known as Cantine Aperte (Open Cellars). In this “rite of Spring” on Saturday, May 30th and Sunday, May 31st, 2009, producers all over Italy literally open their cellars to visitors, who are invited to taste the wines and hopefully, purchase them, too. The event has been organized by the Movimento Turismo del Vino and has been held each year since 1993.

You may have tasted the well-known wines named Chianti, Barolo, Brunello di Montalcino, or the less well-known Sagrantino of Montefalco, but this is an excellent opportunity to try those wines and visit those areas not familiar to you.

Whether you choose to visit the areas in the Veneto for its “Prosecco”, Montalcino for its Brunello, Salento in Puglia for its Salice Salentino, or the areas around Montefalco (including Bevagna, Massa Martana, Campello sul Clitunno and Trevi, all in central Umbria) for their Sagrantino, it’s a day to explore the countryside… and the wineries!

Salute!


Burrata

Burrata is a delightful gift of nature. The cow’s milk cheese is a dairy delight produced exclusively in the Puglia region, specifically in and around the vast Murgia plateau. Burrata is a fresh cheese made up of a pasta filata casing and shredded creamy filling. It is worked manually like many other southern Italian pasta filata cheeses such as mozzarella, scamorza, provolone, cacocavallo and provola.

The ingredients for burrata are cow’s milk (50%), curd and whey (obtained by using part of the previous day’s production). The milk used is not buffalo, rather the Frisona cow species.

The milk is coagulated by soaking for 20-30 minutes in curd, the mass is then manually shredded into cagliata. This is left to cool 4-5 hours after which it is ready to be stretched.

For burrata it is stretched to a 1 cm-thick slab which will eventually be shaped into the pouch, which is then filled with shredded pasta filata and heavy cream (hence the name, from burro, meaning butter). The burrata is then subsequently soaked for a few minutes in salted brine and then either tied in vizzo leaves or placed in parchment paper sacs, ready for commercial use.

The opulent, rich and buttery burrata flavor and its different textures make it a perfect match for prosciutto crudo, hard crusted bread or pizza bianca, fresh tomatoes and golden olive oil.

(In depth info at Portale Prodotti Tipici, Saporetipico.it)