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Italian · Basilicata

Caciocavallo Podolico alla Brace con Miele di Sulla

One of Basilicata's most elemental preparations: a wheel or thick slice of Caciocavallo Podolico DOP — aged a minimum of six months, up to several years — placed directly on a wire grate over glowing oak or olive-wood embers. As the exterior caramelises and chars, the interior becomes molten. The cheese is transferred rapidly to a wooden board and served immediately with a drizzle of Sulla honey (from sulla clover, a Lucana speciality) and grilled country bread. The transformation from firm-aged cheese to flowing, stretchy interior happens in under four minutes over very hot coals; timing is everything.

‹Swipe for the next dish›
ServesFour portions
TotalUnder 4 minutes over coals (excluding fire preparation)
Sourced1of 4 in BC
Cook
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I

The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

600 g
Caciocavallo Podolico DOP
aged minimum 6 months; cut into thick slices or use a small wheel
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 ml
Sulla honey
or millefiori; drizzled at service
Origin · New ZealandPurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
4 slices
country bread
grilled over the same embers
Your own market
1 tsp
black pepper
freshly ground; applied over honey immediately before serving
Your own market

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II

The Method

1
Prepare the fire well in advance. Oak or olive-wood logs must burn down to glowing red embers with no remaining flame. Arrange the embers in an even bed. Position the wire grate 8–10 cm above the coals. Set out a wooden board, the honey, and the grilled bread before the cheese goes on — service must be immediate and everything must be in place. The grate is ready when you cannot hold your hand at grate level for more than two seconds.
2
Score a shallow cross into the top surface of the cheese. This allows heat to penetrate and gives the honey a pool to collect in at service.
3
Lay the cheese directly on the wire grate over the glowing embers. Rotate 90 degrees every 90 seconds. This is where the dish lives or dies: the coals must be hot enough to caramelise and lightly char the exterior while the interior turns molten and stretchy — the total window is under four minutes. If open flame is present, move the cheese aside and wait. The cheese is done when the exterior shows a dark, caramelised crust and the sides begin to bulge and slump under their own weight.
4
Transfer the cheese immediately to the wooden board. Drizzle sulla honey over the scored surface so that it pools into the cross. Apply freshly ground black pepper directly over the honey. Serve at once with the grilled country bread. The molten interior firms within minutes; there is no recovery once it cools.
III

Quality Hierarchy

01
Reserve — Caciocavallo Podolico DOP aged two years or more, from a single Podolica-breed herd grazing the Alta Murgia or Pollino uplands; sulla honey from a single-estate Lucanian apiary; oak or olive-wood embers only.
02
Estate — Caciocavallo Podolico DOP aged 12–24 months, provenance traceable to Basilicata; sulla or artisan millefiori honey; hardwood embers.
03
Market — Caciocavallo Podolico DOP at the minimum 6-month age; good-quality millefiori honey; any hardwood-charcoal ember bed with no accelerants.
04
House — Any aged caciocavallo (non-Podolico) of at least 6 months; mild wildflower honey; charcoal grill at high heat — the character is diminished but the preparation remains coherent.
IV

Sensory Tests

◇Sight. Embers glow red and uniformly with no visible flame before the cheese is placed.
◇Sight. The exterior develops a dark, caramelised crust with light charring at the edges within four minutes.
◇Sight. The sides of the cheese begin to bulge and slump, indicating the interior has turned molten.
◇Touch. Light pressure on the top surface meets no resistance — the interior flows beneath the crust.
◇Where it lives or dies. The coals must be glowing and flameless: flame chars the exterior without melting the interior, and a window of under four minutes separates perfect from ruined.
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VI

What to Pour

The pairing
El Silencio Espadin Mezcal
El Silencio Mezcal · Oaxaca — Mezcal
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Agave spirit
From British Columbia

Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.

Without alcohol

No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.

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The whole pairing
Pillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance

The hands behind the plate.

Purely Artisan Foods
San Diego · Sulla honey
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