Down – Set – Pallone!
This or similar would be the battle cry if Pugliesi would play football with their cheeses. Naturally they don´t, but in Puglia a football (spherical) shaped cheese is indeed a thing, quite rare and definitely a cheese to search for and not to miss.
*Pallone di Gravina* is a hard, stretched, raw curd cheese with a maturation of at least 4 months. Nowadays *Pallone di Gravina* – the balloon from Gravina- that was already mentioned in the New Agricultural Encyclopedia of 1859 is only produced by very few cheese makers and is a member of the Slow Food family since 2012.
How is it made?
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Carrying its provenance in its very name, *Pallone di Gravina* stands for and reflects the area it is born in – the area of Gravina and the Alta Murgia plateau, a region abundantly rich in nature and biodiversity with dry grasslands and more than 1.500 different herbal- and floral species.
Naturally the cheese embodies these origins and offers complex herbaceous flavors and aromas, with hints of melted butter and dried fruit.
Pallone gets spicier with maturation and the paste is of a semi-firm to firm, layered quark-ball texture with color profiles reaching from straw to amber.
Gustav says –
when in Puglia keep your eyes peeled for a cheese that resembles a beheaded Caciocavallo and dunk yourself in it head-first.
More cheesy adventures will head your way soon – until then also read our blog post on Caciocavallo
[Cacaiocavallo Podolico]
