The product

Nero di Sicilia

Semi-aged cheese with a fragrant aroma thanks to the ground pepper on the rind
Sku:
31703
Country of origin:
Italy, Sicily
Type of Milk:
Sheep's milk
Weight:
14 kg approx
Minimum order:
1 piece
Description
Aged pecorino cheese coated on the outside with ground pepper
Appearance
It has a rough rind and a slightly amber straw-yellow paste; it has a compact, semi-hard, and fairly firm texture
Taste
It is fragrant to the nose, the presence of grated pepper (by them in the company) on the rind provides a pleasant aromatic contribution that alternates with the cheese's sweet and persistent perfume, with notes of Mediterranean scrub and oregano. As the cheese matures, it can become spicy, but the aging period must be longer than 8 months
Maturing
At least 90 days
Curiosity
The business was founded by the father in 2000 with the aim of enhancing the value of Sicilian sheep's milk (initially, they worked exclusively with organic milk), and it has gradually grown into the modern and well-organized facility it is today. Every day, they collect around 20,000 litres of milk with three vehicles from three provinces (Palermo, Trapani, and Agrigento) within a 65 km radius of the dairy. They visit about 80 farmers located in mountainous areas that are not always easy to reach; these are small farmers with flocks of up to 200 sheep each, requiring collection rounds that sometimes take the entire day
Our selection
Sicily is one of the homelands of Pecorino in Italy, and we traveled there to meet a new producer of sheep's milk cheese. The Biopek Dairy is located in Gibellina Nuova, in the hinterland of Trapani, and is managed by the Messina brothers, Pietro and Andrea. This genuine story has its roots in a small artisanal workshop where Pecorino cheeses, purchased from local producers, were aged and packaged. Since 2000, with the arrival of the second generation of the family, a new production facility was established, and in 2019 the latest expansion brought the production area to 3,000 square meters. Biopek selects and supports the best farms, optimizes daily milk collection with its own tank trucks, and processes the milk that arrives at the facility each day
Suggestions
The Nero di Sicilia is a perfect cheese for an aperitif; it pairs divinely with acacia honey, marmalades, and preserves from Macedonia dell'Orto
Ingredients
Pasteurized sheep's MILK, rennet, salt, lactic ferments. Covered outside with minced black pepper and sunflower oil
Allergens in ingredients
Milk and products thereof
Weight
14 kg approx
Packaging
Vacuum packed
Storage Conditions (packaged products)
Store at a maximum temperature of +4 °C
Country of origin of the primary ingredient
Italy
Nutrition Declaration
Energy: 1947 kJ / 456 kcal
Fat: 34 g
of which saturates: 22 g
Carbohydrate: 2 g
of which sugars: 0,5 g
Protein: 29 g
Salt: 3 g
Typical value per 100 g
The producer

Biopek - Gibellina (TP) - Sicily

Biopek - Gibellina (TP) - Sicily

Selected because

Caseificio Biopek is located in Gibellina Nuova in the province of Trapani, Sicily, one of the homelands of pecorino cheese: the company exclusively processes Sicilian sheep's milk. Biopek was founded in 2000 by Giuseppe Messina, who wanted to offer his customers high-quality pecorino cheese. Giuseppe used to sell local pecorino cheese on the mainland, but the quality was always very inconsistent. He therefore decided to set up his own dairy so that he could control the quality of the products! Now, his sons Andrea and Pietro run the dairy, which is spotlessly clean and extremely well organised, and produce pecorino cheese using only Sicilian milk, collected within a 70 km radius of the farm from 50 small producers (with an average of 250-300 head of sheep each). In Sicily, sheep are raised on pasture during the winter and only return to the barn for milking (done by hand). In the summer, however, they are dried off. The best quality milk is produced until spring. Interesting fact: Biopek processes half of the milk it transforms throughout the year from March to May. The milk is filtered and centrifuged to remove impurities and then pasteurised. Production begins at 7 a.m. and the rest is told by the products: the Sicilian identity of the pecorino cheeses is clear, so much so that the brand name chosen for these products is I Siciliani