La Nuova Sardegna

Dairy farming is undoubtedly the leading agro-industrial sector in Anglona. From the hills of Osilo, Nulvi and Chiaramonti, descending gently towards the Perfugas plain, the orography of the territory changes and so does the pasture and the production. On these pastures immersed in flowering hills not far from the sea, the shepherds carry out their activities following the most ancient traditions, thus guaranteeing the high quality standard of their products.

Very famous and sought-after is the Pecorino of Osilo, a Slow Food Presidium for several years, smaller in diameter and height than the classic Sardinian pecorino. A fundamental characteristic of the process is the long pressing of the mass, after the curd has been broken into minute grains. This is carried out with the help of rudimentary mechanical presses that give the cheese a mellowness that is preserved even as it matures. The paste is soft, oily and with a great intensity on the nose and a particularly aromatic flavour. In the mouth it is buttery, melting, with good notes of toasted hazelnut.

In Osilo the whey is also used to produce 'ricotta mustia', a ricotta in the shape of a flattened loaf with an amber colour and an intense, slightly smoky flavour. In Nulvi, the 'Latteria sociale cooperativa San Pasquale' is one of the most important Sardinian cheese producers with over 40 years of activity in the dairy sector. A mature company, determined and attentive to technological innovations. It currently produces various types of cheese, guaranteeing high quality, characterised by professionalism and the ability to combine tradition and innovation. Farmers from Nulvi, Martis, Tergu, Chiaramonti, Sedini, Bulzi, Osilo and other neighbouring towns supply the Nulvi-based company with milk. The company's flagship product is Pecorino Romano, a hard, cooked cheese, destined mainly for national and international markets.

But the main product is the now famous 'Granglona' table cheese with cooked paste, from sheep's milk coagulated with calf's rennet, with a straw-white paste with sparse, tiny eyes. Elastic in the young type and harder and with some graininess in the mature type. Sweet, aromatic and harmonious in the young type while more intense and pleasantly piquant in the mature type. Other exquisite products from Nulvi are Caciorone, Pecorino San Pasquale, Monte Alma, Brigadore and Nugulbi, all table or grating cheeses that, depending on the rennet used (lamb, kid or calf) and the maturing process, acquire specific visual, olfactory and taste characteristics. In the varied panorama of traditional cheesemaking in the Anglona communities, stretched-curd cow's milk cheese also plays an important role both in home production and in the production of cheese factories. Among the different types, the best known are sas conzeddas, periform pasta filata cheese of an intense yellow colour which  is characterised by the presence of a closing lump, su tenaju. In Perfugas in particular this type of cheese is called conzedda, but for commercial purposes it is used the term peretta, while in other Anglo communities it is called fighedda. Sa conzedda has become one of the best known and most representative cheese of this area due to its production, which is widespread in the home workshops and cheese factories of Perfugas, especially in the Cooperativa Pastori Perfughesi (founded in 1947).

Anglona cheese, as well as ricotta, whether mild or mature, is one of the main ingredients of the menus offered by the many agritourism farms of the area. In particular, supa de finuju (layers of bread seasoned with pecorino cheese and broth made from wild fennel, onions and lard), curunzones (ricotta ravioli), the tasty seadas and sas cadascinas or casadinas, cakes made with a typical Sardinian pastry (pasta violata) filled with fresh cheese flavoured with citrus peel.