zuppa cuata

/TSOOP-pah KWAH-tah/
[Italian]

"Hidden soup." A well known dish in Tempio, this is a soup made with goat and cheese and served over slices of bread which have been layered with cheese. No-one is sure whether the "hidden" refers to the fact that that the meat is hidden away at the bottom of the soup, or that traditionally the soup was taken out from the coals and then wrapped in a blanket to let it develop its flavour, so it was 'hidden' in a blanket. According to local sources, zuppa cuata can only properly be made in Tempio in Sardinia, as the failure to have precisely the right ingredients will destroy the flavour of the soup. It must contain only the youngest kid, only available a few weeks after they are born; The bread must be "Crown of Red Wreath" know locally as "corona di tricu ruju", which is essential for the best results of the dish. It is produced daily in all the bakeries of Tempio but is often confused with other types of bread that have a similar shape but a quite different taste. There are two types of cheeses that are normally used. The first should be a fresh cow’s milk cheese which is sliced and layered between slices of the bread. Some people choose to use Pischedda. The aged cheese is usually made of sheep's milk (often the crust was grated because the heart of the cheese was eaten with more pleasure with bread and a glass of good wine) or of cow’s milk. In Tempio this is likely to be "Casgiu ruzzu", a very distant, and some say poor, relative of Parmesan cheese.

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