Culinary and other curiosities: The Maiorchino festival and tournament in Novara di Sicilia

It starts with the 35th edition of the Maiorchino tournament in Novara di Sicilia in the province of Messina, which has its roots in the 17th century.
It is a festival repeated every weekend (Saturday and Sunday) from 13 January to 13 February 2024.

The event dedicated to the typical local sheep’s cheese takes place during Carnival and ends with the tournament final.
The Maiorchino, the flagship of local gastronomy, has a 12 cm high wheel with a delicate but piquant flavour as it matures.

The same name is used to define the famous game that consists of rolling a wheel of matured pecorino cheese along a path that winds its way through the narrow streets of the historic centre.
The weight of the various wheels of cheese varies from 10 to 18 kg and the event will end with the awarding of prizes to the winners and the traditional ‘maccheronata’.
The ‘rolling’ route starts in Via Duomo (cantuea da chiazza), continues through the streets of the Nebrodi centre, until it reaches the finishing line (a sarva). Before being thrown, the cheese wheel is tied with a strong string (‘a lazzada), which serves both to give it speed and the right direction. The team that crosses the finish line first with the least number of throws wins.

During the finals, it will be possible to taste the typical cheese and ricotta, local wine and other typical products such as maccheronata with sausage gravy whitened by a thick cascade of grated Majorcan cheese.