Product Description

Pecorino Romano PDO is a hard-cooked cheese, produced in central Italy with whole sheep’s milk from pasture-grazing herds raised in the wild, on natural pastures. This cheese is nowadays the most important sheep’s milk cheese among the EU Protected Designation of Origin products.

Type of Milk: Sheep

Production Area: Pecorino Romano PDO is entirely produced from October to July in the whole territory of the Sardinia island and Lazio regions, as well as the province of Grosseto in the region of Tuscany.

Appearance, Taste and Nutritional Facts:  The aroma is characteristic and the cheese has an fragrant and slightly piquant flavor. The more mature cheese to grate has a piquant, intense and pleasing flavor. Pecorino Romano PDO is characterized by the absence of lactose and galactose and the presence of unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. It is also rich in calcium and phosphorus.

Origins: Pecorino Romano PDO has a very long history and very old origin, the original archetype of the current Pecorino Romano PDO was first created in the upper Agro Romano region. Latin writer Columella already described the method of production of this cheese in his “De re rustica”. But although the surroundings of Rome were indeed the place where the process originated from, at the end of the 19th century Sardinia became the biggest producer. In fact, the breeding of sheeps in the region of Lazio and in the isle of Sardinia is ancient.

Production: The production of Pecorino Romano PDO is the fruit of centuries of experience. Upon arrival in the dairy farm, the milk is measured, filtered and processed directly in its raw state or heated to a maximum temperature of 68°C/154°F for no more than 15 seconds. The innesto is one of the defining characteristics of Pecorino Romano PDO and it consists of a group of indigenous thermophilic lactic bacteria with strains from the production area. Once added, the milk coagulates at a temperature between 38°C and 40°C (100°F and 104°F) using lamb’s rennet in paste form only obtained from animals raised in the same area of production of the cheese. Ascertaining the optimum moment for the hardening of the coagulate, the cheesemaker proceeds to break it until the curd pieces are the size of a grain of wheat. The curd must be cooked at temperatures between 45°C and 48°C (113°F and 118°F). Salting may be done using dry salt and/or brine, ageing must be at least five months for table cheese and at least eight months for grated cheese. As a guarantee of meeting the specific regulatory requirements, when put on sale for consumption, “Pecorino Romano” of Protected Designation of Origin must be stamped with the designation logo (the logo of the Consortium – see below). The designation logo consists of a continuous or dashed line diamond shape with rounded corners, containing the stylised drawing of a sheep, with the Pecorino Romano PDO designation underneath. Pecorino Romano PDO’s shapes are imprinted at the origin along the whole height using an appropriate die. The imprint consists of the Pecorino Romano PDO designation and the designation logo. There is also a box showing the acronym of the province of origin, the code of the producing cheese farm, the month and the year of production.

Gastronomy: The Aged Pecorino Romano PDO is famous for the preparation of typical recipes of Roman cuisine such as Bucatini all’Amatriciana, Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe and the Tripe. The less seasoned typology is a great table cheese. Pecorino Romano PDO should be kept in a cool, dry place, wrapped in its original packaging. Suggested Wine Pairings: Chianti