Ready, set – Maiorchino!
Imagine Sicily and the lush slopes of the northern Peloritani Mountains, where sheep and goats are grazing in the wilderness all year long. This is the birthplace of *Maiorchino*, a cooked hard cheese made of raw sheep´s milk, often with a shot of raw goat’s milk added in.
It was first mentioned in the 17th century in context with the fun – yet serious – Maiorchina tournament, where during carnival whole wheels of cheese are in a race for fastest protagonist on the streets of Novara.
Its name, though, *Maiorchino*comes presumably from the wheat “Maiorca”, which used to be an important part of nutrition for the sheep in the area. Although the ancient wheat almost disappeared, the cheese and its production method withstood the change of times.
In accordance with tradition, Slow-Food Presidio *Maiorchino* is still produced using tinned-copper broilers and wooden utensils, with maturing often taking place in underground stone buildings where temperature and humidity remain stable throughout the year.
Nowadays the rather large cheese with its olive oil treated rind is rare and not so easy to find; only a handful of small cheese makers process the rich milk of their family-run flocks. Production takes place solely from February to June, and *Maiorchino* reaches top taste with a ripening time of 8 months.
The eye-sprinkled, straw colored paste is compact, and the flavor and aromas hint at cooked milk, herb, and naughty sheep. Gustav says he loves our intense, herbaceous & animalistic friend and thinks he could use its greasy rind for a spa-like odor and fur treatment.
*Maiorchino* hard facts:
– Whole, raw sheep´s milk often mixed with goat
– Coagulation at 39C°, under the use of lamb or kid’s rennet for 60 minutes
– “Cooking” temperature of 60C°
– Dry salted, after 3 months the rind gets treated with olive oil
– Maturation 8 months and more
