are essential to create quality products
The combination between tradition and innovation has made the company I Buonatavola one of a kind, capable to marry a modern production process with the preservation and respect of craftsmanship and authenticity.
Tradition means to be firmly anchired to models and behaviors established over time in order to ensure a superb artisanal supply focused on continuity.
Innovation is synonymous with openness towards future perspectives that allow creating new elements which are essential to support the evolution of both the structures and production.
Milk
According to strict criteria, the company selects the milk producers to ensure the authenticity and freshness of the product.
All the milk used comes from selected pastures, an essential feature to obtain the nutritional and organoleptic properties typical of the cheese of this region.
The milk is collected daily and, after being analysed, is subjected to pasteurization or thermisation, in order to destroy all the pathogenic microorganisms that can cause changes of various nature.
Manufacturing Process
After pasteurization and heat treatment, the milk is poured into the tanks where, by the action of rennet, it strarts to coagulate, forming the characteristic “curd”. Later, the curd is broken into fragments whose size varies accordin to the type of cheese being produced: medium-small fragments for semi-hard cheese and small bits for hard cheese such as Pecorino.
The curd fragments are separated from the whey, compressed into a trainer and drained until most of the excess whey has come out.
The special care and the ancient mastery of the dairy processing techniques make the cheese produced by “I Buonatavola” unique.
Salting
Once the above production is ended and the wheels of cheese obtained, the salting process takes place. For this operation, essential for all types of cheese, the salt acts as a natural preservative and, further, enhances the taste of cheese.
Depending on the product, there are various salting techniques; for example, the Caciotta Romana cheese undergo a treatment in brine while the Pecorino Romano del Lazio cheese is salted by hand according to the tradition. The salting masters control the wheels every day in order to determine duration and intensity of brining and, thus, to give them that uniformity essential to obtain a result of excellent quality.
Over time, the result of these careful controls has allowed the reduction of the percentage of salt present in the Pecorino Romano del Lazio “Fulvi Genuine” cheese below 3,5%.
Aging
After the salting phase begins the curing process that will bring product to fruition. This stage, which lasts about thirty/forty-five days for fresh cheese and up to twenty months for the Pecorino Romano del Lazio, is essential to determine the typical flavour, taste and texture of this cheese.
The Pecorino Romano del Lazio rests for at least nine months in cellars at a temperature of 9-12°C. During this phase the wheels are constantly checked one by one.
Selection
During the aging, the wheels of cheese are subject to several stages of selection. Once this is completed, the final product must be in line with the quality requirements demanded by the company (weight, color, texture and flavour). Only a careful selection ensures a high quality and competitive product.
The Production of Ricotta
The raw material for the production of ricotta is milk whey. Whey is the part of the milk that remains after the cheese-making and it is an important by-product used for the production of ricotta cheese. For the Ricotta Romana DOP, the rules of production issued by the European Commission through the Ministry of Agriculture are scrupulously followed and, hence, the product is submitted to the audit and certification of the “Consorzio Tutela Ricotta Romana DOP”.