Moliterno and its Pecorino Cheese

Moliterno. escape from Saracens

On the way back from the excursion to Grumentum, it would be a crime not to stop in Moliterno: both to visit the town and to buy the typical pecorino canestrato.

This town, like others in the Val d'Agri, is set directly from the "ashes" of Grumentum because there fled the inhabitants of the ancient Roman city driven by Muslim gangs in the late ninth century.

Moliterno is dominated by a medieval castle, built on land protection by the Longobards: From this hill you can enjoy a glimpse of the lake Pertusillo, a basin formed after the construction of a high dam almost 100 mt. on the Agri river in the sixties of the twentieth century, a strip of deep blue between green hills.

Where is Moliterno located

Moliterno

The Pecorino Cheese from Moliterno : where to buy it

One of the occasions not to be missed, however, is to taste the cheese produced here for centuries: the same name Moliterno is connected to the verb "milk", as evidence of the antiquity of sheep farming and dairy business.

We can find the Casieddu, the seasoned ricotta, but especially the canestrato pecorino.

This last one is made from sheep and goat milk; it is called that because the curd is pressed by hand inside baskets; after eight months of aging, inside cellars called "fondaci", the result is a dark yellow hard cheese with a strong flavor that goes well with honey or orange marmalade.

To acquire it, since you will find almost no advertisements in town, you will have to use an old and romantic method: ask those you meet on the street where you can find someone who sells it.

They will likely direct you to a door to knock on: the home of a family that produces it, and if they don’t answer, they will also give you a phone number until someone answers and gives you an appointment at the farm in a rural area, where the pecorino - both a whole wheel and a piece - will be vacuum-packed for you, and where you can also purchase other Lucanian products.

Protected Geographical Indication

Until 2009, this Moliterno cheese had only received the generic Traditional Agro-Food Product designation, which means a "product obtained with processing, preservation, and aging methods that have been established over time and are homogeneous throughout the entire affected territory, according to traditional rules." However, this designation has not protected local production from counterfeiting in these years.

Since 2010, the Canestrato di Moliterno has obtained the IGP mark: a recognition that will face local authorities and producers with the possibility of moving beyond artisanal production.

Thus, perhaps, it will be easier to taste the true pecorino canestrato.

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