Hailed as the "Millenium Cheese of Italy," Cacio di Fossa literally means "cheese of the pit." During the wars between Charles VIII of France and Ferdinand of Naples the inhabitants of Sogliano al Rubicone would hide their cheese in underground fossas. This tradition carries on according to a special and somewhat complicated ritual.In mid-August, before each cheese is tied in a burlap sack and placed in fossas dug in the porous ground (tufo), they are disinfected with fire and lined with hay. The fossas are flask shaped, about 3 meters deep and 2 meters wide. Each sack is marked with the owners name and stacked in layers on planks of wood and separated by sand. They are packed close together so no air can get in. The fossa is then hermetically sealed. Over the months they have undergone a total re-fermentation losing practically all the whey. On November 16th this revered cheese is harvested during the holiday of Santa Caterina. The cheese is pulled from the ground, cleaned, wrapped in its characteristic rustic brown paper, secured with a string and sold during the festivities by some, while others jealously cling to their formaggio.
Fossa has an intense and somewhat piquant flavor that makes it excellent as a table cheese with fresh fruit and honey, or grated over pasta or risotto.
