Brocciu

Brocciu (AOC 1983, AOP — pronounced 'brotch-oo') is Corsica's national cheese and one of only two French AOC cheeses made from whey (the other being Brousse du Rove). It is not a cheese in the strict sense but a ricotta-like preparation: the whey left over from making other Corsican cheeses (tomme corse, casgiu merzu) is heated to 80-90°C with the addition of 10-15% fresh whole sheep's or goat's milk. The whey proteins (albumin and globulin) denature and coagulate, rising to the surface as a white, fluffy mass that is scooped into perforated moulds (fattoghje) to drain. The result is a snow-white, moist, delicate fresh cheese with a mild, sweet, lactic flavor — lighter than ricotta, more refined than cottage cheese, with a texture that ranges from creamy-spoonable (when very fresh, less than 48 hours) to firm and sliceable (when salted and aged for 2-3 weeks as brocciu passu). Brocciu's culinary importance in Corsica cannot be overstated: it appears in virtually every course. Fresh brocciu is eaten for breakfast drizzled with honey or scattered with sugar. It fills the island's pastries: fiadone (a lemon-scented brocciu cheesecake baked in a pastry shell), imbrucciata (brocciu turnovers), and migliacci (brocciu crêpes). In savory preparations, brocciu fills cannelloni (the Corsican version uses brocciu and Swiss chard), stuffs vegetables (courgettes farcies au brocciu), enriches omelettes (omelette au brocciu et à la menthe — with fresh mint, a classic), and is stirred into soups. Brocciu passu (aged, salted) is grated over pasta like Parmesan. The AOC requires sheep's or goat's milk from Corsican breeds grazing on maquis — the aromatic scrubland that gives the milk (and therefore the brocciu) its distinctive herbal character. Production season mirrors the lactation cycle: November to June, with the peak in spring when the maquis flowers and the milk is richest.

Whey-based cheese (not curd-based). Whey heated to 80-90°C with 10-15% fresh milk added. White, fluffy, mild, sweet. Fresh (spoonable, under 48 hours) or passu (salted, aged 2-3 weeks, sliceable/gratable). Used in every course: breakfast, pastry, savory, soup. Fiadone, imbrucciata, cannelloni, omelette au brocciu. AOC requires Corsican breeds on maquis. Season: November-June.