The farmhouse of the “conciato romano” cheese

Via Strangolagalli c.s. 4
Phone +39 0823 878277 and +39 349 7874994
www.campaniatour.it/lecampestre
f.lombardi19@virgilio.it

People escaped from this countryside because of hunger, now they are returning to realize a great agriculture. This is the story of Francesco and Livia Lialiana, this is an experience common to many people in Southern Italy, it began in 1975 when many people emigrated to Belgium. Then they returned home in 1983, he got a job in the building industry whereas she started to take care of the land bringing the red cabbage from Brussels and bringing two children up. The most difficult period was the beginning of the Nineties when this field went through a crisis. A farmhouse course gave them new hopes. Now she works with the young Fabio going round Italy and making this extraordinary old cheese known. It has a unique and intense taste. Their primary activity is the cultivation of vineyards, olive trees and the breeding of about 200 sheep trying to recover the typical products and biodiversity as in the case of the black pig from Caserta. This farmhouse is a well kept village with personalized rooms and a wide veranda which is used as a restaurant room above all on Sundays at lunchtime.

The “conciato romano” cheese

The “conciato romano” is a very old cheese, it has survived thanks to the efforts of some cheese makers who recovered the traditional techniques. Its origins are very old and it has survived extinction. It is obtained from raw sheep’s or goat’s milk, which is filtered and coagulated at ambient temperature with natural kid rennet. After about two hours the curd is hand-broken and it is cut in pieces whose dimension is the one of a grain of rice. After about 10 minutes the curd is hand-picked, pressed and put in baskets. Each piece is turned two or three times to favour the pouring of the rennet. These pieces are hand-salted on a side and, after about 12 hours, they are turned over and the other side is salted. After other 12 hours the pieces are put in a traditional wooden basket which is protected by an insect screen, called “casale”, in a shady place in the open until they are dried. Then they are washed with the cooking water of a traditional homemade pasta, dried and seasoned with olive oil, white vinegar, wild thyme and chilli pepper. The cheese is put in clay vases where it has to mature for 6 months up to 2 years. The contact of this presidium is our dear friend Vito Puglia.

Three rooms with bathroom
Indicative prices: 55 Euros full-board, 45 Euros half-board, 30 Euros Bed & Breakfast

13 hectares belonging to the family
Breeding: farmyard animals, donkeys, the black pig from Caserta and sheep
Cultivations: vineyards, olive trees, fruit, vegetables, legumes and wheat
Production: “conciato romano” cheese, extra virgin olive oil, wine, vegetables, purées, salamis, honey and bread

This farmhouse is member of the network of the didactic farmhouses of Campania

Included in the Terra Madre book edited by Slow Food

Slow Food Presidium of the “conciato romano” cheese

Included in the Guida Oro edited by Veronelli

Restaurant open to the public
The menu follows the seasons and includes starters, bean soup or soup with chickpeas and chestnuts, asparagus omelettes, “scialatielli” pasta with red cabbage and “conciato romano” cheese, pasta with crumbled sausage, pork, lamb, homemade tarts, cakes and wholemeal bread.

Indicative cost: 25 Euros
80 seats

Wine-list available, it includes wines of the territory. Proper glasses.

How to arrive. Leave the Capua motorway exit, follow the road signs to Capua and then to Castel di Sasso, Formicola and/or Pontelatone. The farm is 2 kilometres away from  Castel di Sasso and is easily reachable following the road signs located along the road.