OUR HERD
The Saint Pancrace campsite is also a typical Corsican cheese production. Historically, in Corsica, shepherds raise flocks of transhumant sheep and goats. The goats and sheep that are left to graze in the scrub and in the mountains then give quality milk which gives their particularity to traditional Corsican cheeses. Our flock is made up of one hundred and twenty Corsican sheep, which during the summer season go to the mountains.
THE MILKING
On the explotation of the Saint Pancrace campsite, the milking lasts about two hours each morning. The shepherd then leads his animals into a field or a meadow where they can graze all day.
THE MAKING
TRANSHUMANCE
Corsican shepherds have long led their herd in the mountains at the arrival of summer and some still do. Concerning us, it is a question of moving the herd at the start of the season from the land surrounding the Saint Pancrace campsite to the mountains where the grass remains abundant during the hot season. In Corte, transhumance generally begins in June, the period at which the campsite sees the summer heat arrive. You will probably not come across our sheep friends during your stay at the campsite, but you can obviously taste the cheese from our porduction!
In Corte and throughout the Corsica region, you will find many types of cheese, all of which are not locally produced. Recall that cheese is obtained by coagulation of milk, added more or less ferments and rennet. What is then called the curd is drained, molded and finally salted before leaving for ripening. The texture of the cheese depends on the balance between the lactic ferments and the rennet. Fresh cheeses contain little rennet while pressed cheeses, like tomme, require a large amount. It is the ripening time that differentiates and develops the flavors of the cheese. Fresh, it gives a feeling of freshness on the palate. Semi-dry, it develops its specific and dry taste, it has acquired its final taste. You will therefore be able to taste delicious Brocciu cheese, emblematic of our island at the Saint Pancrace campsite, but also Venacais and tome of sheep obviously!