Basilisk ricotta is a secret, which is kept by only a few people now. It’s the union of an ancient tradition that of the Madonie cheesemakers, with its natural resources from the Madonie territory. Although lesser known, this product is iconic with the most symbolic dishes of Sicily containing the most authentic Sicilian flavors from a place rich in biodiversity.
What is the basilisk?
Medieval philosophies believed the basilisk was the king of snakes, a reptile capable of killing with a single glance. In Madonie on the other hand, it’s a plant similar to wild fennel, which grows from March onwards on steep and impermeable ground, among the rocks at 1500 meters above sea level. Because the Madonie is a unique terroir, with a very high concentration of biodiversity which has more than 1600 different plants, such as the basilisk, of which both the fungus and the leaves are used.
How to use it
The basilisk mushroom is an extremely exquisite product, like the manna, so much so that it’s called the white truffle of the Madonie. It’s predominantly eaten raw, with at most a drizzle of oil (madonita) to enhance its flavor. Some restauranteurs have recently started to use it also grated on dishes such as pizza. Another stop is that of basilisk leaves which are used as fodder feed for cows, sheep and goats, taken to pasture during the only month of flowering, between May and June. The basilisk will then give the milk unique aromas and indescribable fragrances, a ricotta cheese that releases the entire madonite world of biodiversity into the mouth; basilisk ricotta is so rare that it’s booked (and paid for) months and months in advance.
The only producer of basilisk ricotta cheese
Virtually nobody makes basilisk ricotta anymore because it requires time that seems to exist now no longer. Not for Giacinto Cangelosi, a shepherd and dairyman with passion since the age of 15, who has been making cheese using the same precious techniques from the 1700s which have been handed down to him for generations. Some of his current 160 hectares, under the Pizzocanna rock in Case Sambuchi, a district of Castelbuono, are the result of ancient agreements from some of his ancestors who exchanged cheese varieties for land. On the same land, 100 cows and 250 goats still graze freely today, milked every morning at dawn strictly by hand only for the production of canestrati, caciocavalli and of course, ricotta di basilisco.