Caseificio Silvio Boi in Ogliastra Introduces Abisso, Sardinia's First Blue Cheese Combining Milk and Seawater. Discover Its Numerous Benefits.
The product
"Innovation means optimizing traditions in production, conducting research to introduce ever-new and enticing products that meet specific quality needs." Following the words of Andrea Boi from Caseificio Silvio Boi in Ogliastra, Abisso is born, the Sardinian blue cheese with multiple properties, conceived and supervised by Carlo Murgia, the company's director. The result of an experiment and part of a research project funded by rural development program funds aimed at promoting new sustainable productions, Abisso is a soft cheese that combines milk and the sea. Yes, because to produce and package it, Caseificio Silvio Poi uses seawater.
But what are the advantages of this process? Firstly, the product has "nutrient percentages much higher than the type of cheese it's inspired by, thanks to an innovative production process." In addition, it looks at the short supply chain and local peculiarities: the milk suppliers all operate in the "Land of Centenarians," Ogliastra.
Furthermore, the use of seawater alters the cheese's chemical composition. "As demonstrated by the analyses, the product contains a higher quantity of magnesium compared to traditional cheese. Moreover, seawater, thanks to the presence of micro and macro elements within it, is a valid substitute for salt, allowing for a reduction in sodium chloride content while maintaining the product's saltiness," says the producing company.
Born from "an initial intuition based on the union of conceptually distant elements, but ready to blend because universally recognized as connected to Sardinia: our typical cheese (pecorino) and the uniqueness of our sea," as the company states, Abisso is a unique product in Italy, "capable of creating a non-experiential place that engages all five senses: taste, thanks to its low sodium content; smell, because it is a soft cheese born from noble blue molds; touch, due to its natural softness; sight of an 'abyssal' color that can only shine with light. To engage the sense of hearing, it's enough to be carried away by the first four, and we're certain that the sound of the sea in Ogliastra will not be long in coming."
Abisso, like the unexplored depths of our sea, deviates from what is already known, from the standard we are accustomed to, and surprises the consumer even with just the packaging, a handmade crystal cylinder that reveals the contents through the play of shades of abyssal blue.
