Welcome to Conciato Romano paradise, where the Lombardi family stands in for Saint Peter. Conciato is an extreme cheese and at 2,500 years old, it is also one of the world’s oldest; a raw milk pecorino characterised by a tanning process in terracotta amphorae with chilli, dried wild thyme (nepitella), EVO oil made with Caiazzane and Leccino olives and Casavecchia wine. The cheese is refined in the amphora for between six months and two years. As Manuel says, it is a domineering surly, presumptuous character with a hard head (tiene a’ capa tosta) but it hides unexpected sweetness. It is profound. It is conservative and will not accept any new modifications. Upon contact with the palate, it triggers strong sensations, opens up gustatory pathways and reveals a truly rare wealth of aromas. When grated onto the Franco Pepe Mastunicola pizza as soon as it comes out of the oven, it explodes with an almost balsamic effect. Family hospitality, kindness and direct sales.

Mimmo La Vecchia, a long-time cheese maker, is the life and soul of this magical place where the scent of milk is all-enveloping. The fusion of hot water and curd transforms the stringy mass which is pulled, raised and turned over until it is compacted into a single, elastic form to be cut off and transformed into rounded shapes or braids. It is an ancient ritual where men and women bring a candid dance to life in among the vapours. 

A temple of buffalo mozzarella and more, La Baronia is a local historical landmark. The Cutillos started out as breeders in the 1950s and in 1986 they opened the dairy. The quantity does not preclude serious quality because their establishment remains artisanal: the curdling takes place with the whey (it works a bit like sourdough) which is a residue from the previous day’s processing; the mozzatura (cutting off) is done strictly by hand. As well as mozzarella, buffalo milk is transformed into ricotta, burrata and stracciatella. The company shop is a faithful representation of the local territory: wine, beer, pasta, bread, biscuits, friselle, preserved vegetables and cheeses produced in collaboration with other dairies.

When God created the world, he decided that Angelo Santabarbara would be a dairyman. “Uncle Costantino taught my parents to make ricotta, who passed on that traditional knowledge to me.” Technology is important, but in the art of turning milk into cheese, nothing is more essential than the intuition of the dairyman. And Angelo makes works of art here: he produces mozzarella with milk from Friesian cows reared on the farm; and then ricotta, primo sale, caciocavallo, scamorza and the extraordinary spreadable soft paste Lingotto. “It is a job that requires sacrifices but in return I receive the happiness that comes with being able to build my future in my land. Through mozzarella, I am sharing my territory, my family, my world.” And his mother Teresina enjoys a son whose talent is inspired by all-round sustainability, starting from the wellbeing of his Friesians.