Cuffianella is a fresh cheese tied to Cuffiano, a hamlet of Morcone in the Benevento hinterland. Campania’s regional notes give it a rather thin rind, an intense straw-yellow hue, and the clear imprint of the fuscelle, with a delicate, meltingly tart taste on the palate—reason enough to look past more famous southern wheels and linger on this small, named form.
Milk for the make comes from the previous evening’s milking of brown or pezzata animals, held at 4 °C and brought together with the morning milk. After coagulation the curd is broken to grains the size of a large hazelnut; once turned, a skewer is used. The cheese is not pressed. It rests forty-five minutes, then is covered with cloths and steel plates or plastic for another forty-five minutes before being uncovered. Forms are dabbed with absorbent paper and left to cool for eight to ten hours.
The useful distinction is that unpressed rest: a thin rind and a tart melt that belong to Cuffiano rather than to a generic Campania style. From here, the natural next step is other named cheeses of the Morcone hills, read against the same regional notes rather than as interchangeable table fare.