Felciata
The Felciata cheese, in dialect: 'a filicèta, has ancient origins and belongs to the traditions of pastoralism of Morano Calabro, a country that in 1810 had 12,300 head of sheep. The cheese takes its name from the ferns from which it receives its unique aroma. It is made with goat's milk in the summer, with the addition of a small portion of sheep's milk, when the pastures give the best in aromas, scents and flavors.
The milk is filtered with ferns and then heated in a copper vat (34 degrees). After that, the makers add goat or lamb's rennet, leave it to coagulate and, towards the end, arrene the sprigs of fern on the curd.
The latter, after about half an hour is collected with the cucchiera (typical tool made of maple wood) and is transferred in mulberry or walnut buckets, taking care to alternate between homogeneous layers of curd and ferns. Nowadays, glass and ceramic containers are often used instead. The Felciata cheese should be eaten fresh, just made, when it is still soft and warm. This delicious cheese has always enriched the tables of the nobility of the place, so much so that they used to call it Bread of Angels. Moreover, it is said that woodworkers would exchange a typical bucket in exchange for luscious cheese.
