The cheese does not arrive in Caprera. Giuseppe Garibaldi waits impatiently to taste the Calabrian first fruits which, however, take time to wait. But in the end he found them on the table and Garibaldi thanked them. There are also the cards of the Hero of the Two Worlds to tell the caciocavallo silano, one of the best known delicacies of Made in Italy in the field of cheese.
Caciocavallo Silano has ancient origins that arise from the need to conserve whole milk for a long time, which is easily perishable and difficult to transform into a long-aged cheese. We have been talking about this cheese since 500 BC, originally called butirro, ancestor of the caciocavallo of our days, of which Hippocrates will describe the processing and Pliny will exalt the delicacy.
Today it is a DOP and is produced in many regions of southern Italy but the birthright of the tradition also comes from the name that derives from the processing in the land of Sila, the plateau of Calabria which, with its large and ancient coniferous forests and its crystalline lakes is an extraordinary place in terms of biodiversity and natural beauty.
And from the Sila "caci e burri" sent by the Sprovieri family to Caprera, to Giuseppe Garibaldi, as evidenced by two letters that Vincenzo Abruzzese, a young entrepreneur from Acri, in the province of Cosenza, shows us with emotion and pride. In them, the Hero thanks the family of noble Silanes for the gifts and concern shown towards his health. Caprera is dated 12 December 1864 for the first and 30 January (presumably 1865) for the second. The caci were actually desired, as can be deduced from Garibaldi's first letter, since they had not yet arrived in December. Garibaldi, recovering from severe wounds in Aspromonte and in convalescence, was therefore perhaps very eager to taste the delights of Sila as a consolation for his infirmity and the unbearable constraint to immobility. Then evidently from the second message the cheese finally reaches its destination.
Stories and legends about the Hero that we like to tell while the cheesemaker prepares the processing of the caciocavallo in the laboratories of Biosila, the Acri company of the Abruzzese family. The fresh milk here comes directly from the stables a stone's throw from the dairy, where the 150 spotted cows that circulate freely on the farm produce at least ten quintals every day. Then there are 1000 sheep and goats, all raised semi-wild like cattle which in turn give other quintals of precious fresh milk which will be transformed into caciocavallo and at least thirty other types of cheese, with a supply chain work entirely carried out in the same company from which 40 cacio cavalli come out every year. Biocertified farms since 1992, those of Biosila, which over time have been enriched with the typical Calabrian black pigs with the production of high quality sausages and cured meats.
A farm open to stable visits and hospitality (it is also an agritourism), where the gaze is lost in the majestic scenery of the Sila National Park, an institution now led by Francesco Curcio. Where the art of man faces with arrogance, thanks to the installation of the sculptor Michelangelo Pistoletto "The Third Paradise" made up of 58 loricate pines, incredibly the same number of the "Giants of the mountain" surveyed and which are part of the monumental forest all inside the Sila National Park curated by Fai, as underlined by Giacinto Le Pera who, with his Siluna Association, conceived the installation of the work on the edge of the farm.
BIOSYLA
C.da Filiciuzzi, Acri (Cosenza) 87041
Phone 3402840314 3332862641
www.biosila.it
