In Corsica, as in every other traditional rural society, finding food has been for long one of the main preoccupation of the population, which is further highlighted here because of the isolation. Until the first years of the twentieth century, the rural society relied, when it comes to alimentation, on family products, garden, livestock and wilderness, all while performing the barter and purchase of other ingredients.

 

 

The household livestock-raising has helped the families to obtain grease, eggs, small portions of meat and above all dairy products. The fresh milk that is consumed daily is provided by the rustic Corsican goats and ewes that have well adapted to the local conditions such as mountainous terrains, hot, humid and cold climate. The milk is as well used to make cream, butter, fermented or curd milk and, when the production allows, cheese. Brocciu is one type of cheese that is, until today, the best known. It is also the only Corsican cheese that has been granted a protected designation of origin.

 

This original cheese is made from whey- the liquid remaining after curdling the milk. Then, milk and a sprinkle of salt are added. After the heating, the brocciu surfaces gradually. It is then skimmed using a ladle or a skimmer and put in the molds. It is served fresh, raw or used as an ingredient to prepare cooked recipes such as the famous fiadoni, which is a cake of the local cuisine, or the more refined brocciu passu.

 

-CONSEIL NATIONAL DES ARTS CULINAIRES, The inventor of the culinary heritage of France. Corse, local products and traditional recipes “L’inventaire du patrimoine culinaire de la France. Corse, Produits du terroir et recettes traditionnelles », Albin Michel, 1996.

-Ricciardi-Bartoli Félicienne, Journal of Corsican ethnology « Cahiers d’ethnologie corse », « Cuisine et alimentation », CRDP de Corse, 1992.

Ricciardi-Bartoli Félicienne, Corsican Cuisine from A to Z « Cuisine corse de A à Z », C. Bonneton 1995.