There is a simple sort of glory about handmade scamorza (a semifresh cow’s milk cheese very much like mozzarella) charred over a wood fire, all plumped, swollen, its skin blistered black and gold and barely able to contain its little paunch of seething cream. Anointed with olio santo and taken with oven-toasted bread, it can make for a fine little supper, a sublime one, even, if the cheese is genuine.

Ingredients

　　2 whole scamorza or caciocavallo, smoked or unsmoked (approximately 8 to 10 ounces each)

　　Olio santo (page 155)

　　Build a wood fire—indoors or out—and when the embers are red/white-hot, place the cheeses, cut in half, over an oiled grate. Grill the cheeses until a golden skin forms before turning them gently with a spatula and roasting the other side to a dark, golden color. Transfer the roasted cheeses to a plate and anoint them with tears of the olio santo, presenting them with chunks of good bread that were toasted alongside them. The light of a candle and a jug of good red wine finish the tableau.

　　A Taste of Southern Italy