Pecorino romano

Last updated

Pecorino romano
Pecorino romano cheese.jpg
Country of origin Italy
Region
Source of milk Sheep
PasteurisedYes
TextureHard and very crumbly
Aging time5 months or more
Certification PDO: 1996
Commons-logo.svg Related media on Commons

Pecorino romano (Italian: [pekoˈriːnoroˈmaːno] ; lit. 'Roman pecorino') is a hard, salty Italian cheese made from sheep's milk, often used for grating over pasta or other dishes. The name pecorino means 'ovine' or 'of sheep' in Italian; the name of the cheese, although protected, is a description rather than a brand: [formaggio] pecorino romano means 'sheep's [cheese] of Rome'.

Contents

Although this variety of cheese originated in Lazio, most of its actual production has moved to the island of Sardinia. [1] Pecorino romano is an Italian product with name recognised and protected by the laws of the European Union.

Pecorino romano was a staple in the diet for the legionaries of ancient Rome. Today, it is still made according to the original recipe and is one of Italy's oldest cheeses. On the first of May (May Day), Roman families traditionally eat pecorino with fresh fava beans during an excursion in the Roman Campagna. It is mostly used in central and southern Italy.

Overview

A cheese variety of what might be considered the earliest form of today's pecorino romano was first created in the countryside around Rome, whose production methods are described by Latin authors such as Marcus Terentius Varro and Pliny the Elder about 2,000 years ago. [2] Its long-term storage capacity led to it being used for feeding Roman legions. A daily ration of about 27 grams (1 Roman ounce) was allotted to the legionaries in addition to bread and farro soup. The cheese revived strength and vigour since it was a high-energy food that was easy to digest. [3] It was produced only in the region surrounding Rome (Lazio) until the end of the 19th century. In 1884, the Roman city council prohibited salting the cheese in the grocers' shops in Rome, but this could not prevent the establishment of salting premises and cheesemaking premises on the outskirts of Rome or elsewhere in Lazio. Pressure to move production out of Lazio was in fact caused by a great increase in demand for the cheese, which the Lazio flocks could not satisfy. This led several producers to expand their production in Sardinia. [3] [4] Sardinia, which had been experiencing a severe reduction of its forest cover as a direct result of human activity, provided the Roman entrepreneurs with a type of soil that was ideal for the promotion of monoculture farming. [5] [6]

It is produced exclusively from the milk of sheep raised on the plains of Lazio and in Sardinia. Nowadays, most of the cheese is produced on the island, especially in the comune (municipality) of Macomer. Pecorino romano must be made with lamb rennet from animals raised in the same production area, [7] and is consequently not suitable for vegetarians.

Pecorino romano is often used on pasta dishes, as is Parmesan. Its distinctive flavour led to it being preferred for some Italian pasta dishes such as bucatini all'amatriciana , spaghetti alla carbonara , pasta alla gricia , [8] and spaghetti alla cacio e pepe (of which it is a main ingredient). The cheese's sharpness is affected by its maturation, which varies from five months for a table cheese to eight months or longer for a grating cheese. Most pecorino cheeses are classified as grana and are granular, hard, and sharply flavoured. [9]

Other types of pecorino

There are other regional types of pecorino cheese. Pecorino toscano (from Tuscany) and pecorino sardo (from Sardinia) are not particularly salty, and are generally eaten as they are, rather than grated and used as a cooking ingredient. In the United States, a cheese is sold as "Romano cheese". It is not based on pecorino romano; rather, it is a milder cheese made with cow's milk.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lazio</span> Region of Italy

Lazio or Latium is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants and a GDP of more than €212 billion per year, making it the country's second most populated region and second largest regional economy after Lombardy. The capital of Lazio is Rome.

<i>Casu martzu</i> Traditional Sardinian cheese

Casu martzu, sometimes spelled casu marzu, and also called casu modde, casu cundídu and casu fràzigu in Sardinian, is a traditional Sardinian sheep milk cheese that contains live insect larvae (maggots).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molise</span> Region of Italy

Molise is a region of Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise together with Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effective until 1970, makes Molise the newest region in Italy. Covering 4,438 square kilometres (1,714 sq mi), it is the second smallest region in the country, after the Aosta Valley, and has a population of 313,348.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pecorino</span> Hard Italian sheeps milk cheese

Pecorino is an Italian hard cheese produced from sheep's milk. The name pecorino derives from pecora, which means 'sheep' in Italian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbonara</span> Italian pasta dish

Carbonara is a pasta dish made with fatty cured pork, hard cheese, eggs, salt, and black pepper. It is typical of the Lazio region of Italy. The dish took its modern form and name in the middle of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricotta</span> Italian cheese

Ricotta is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after the casein has been used to make cheese, notably albumin and globulin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Italy

Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine consisting of the ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed in Italy since Roman times, and later spread around the world together with waves of Italian diaspora. Significant changes occurred with the colonization of the Americas and the introduction of potatoes, tomatoes, capsicums, maize, and sugar beet—the latter introduced in quantity in the 18th century. It is one of the best-known and most widely appreciated gastronomies worldwide.

<i>Pecorino sardo</i> Italian firm sheeps milk cheese

Pecorino sardo is a firm cheese from Sardinia made from sheep's milk, specifically from the milk of the local Sarda sheep. It was awarded denominazione d'origine (DO) status in 1991 and granted protected designation of origin (PDO) protection in 1996, the year in which this European Union certification scheme was introduced. There are two varieties: Pecorino Sardo Dolce, aged for 20-60 days; and Pecorino Sardo Maturo, which is aged more than 2 months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarda sheep</span> Italian breed of sheep

The Sarda is an Italian breed of domestic sheep indigenous to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. It is raised throughout the island, in some regions of mainland Italy, and in some other Mediterranean countries, particularly Tunisia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of Sardinia</span> Cuisine originating from the island of Sardinia

The cuisine of Sardinia is the traditional cuisine of the island of Sardinia, and the expression of its culinary art. It is characterised by its own variety and by the fact of having been enriched through a number of interactions with the other Mediterranean cultures while retaining its own identity. Sardinia's food culture is strictly divided into food from the land and food from the sea, reflecting the island's historical vicissitudes and especially its geographic landscapes, spacing from the coastline to the ragged mountains of the interior. The Sardinian cuisine is considered part of the Mediterranean diet, a nutritional model that was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman cuisine</span> Local cuisine in and around the city of Rome

Roman cuisine comes from the Italian city of Rome. It features fresh, seasonal and simply-prepared ingredients from the Roman Campagna. These include peas, globe artichokes and fava beans, shellfish, milk-fed lamb and goat, and cheeses such as pecorino romano and ricotta. Olive oil is used mostly to dress raw vegetables, while strutto and fat from prosciutto are preferred for frying. The most popular sweets in Rome are small individual pastries called pasticcini, gelato and handmade chocolates and candies. Special dishes are often reserved for different days of the week; for example, gnocchi is eaten on Thursdays, baccalà on Fridays and trippa on Saturdays.

<i>Pecorino toscano</i> Italian cheese

Pecorino toscano is a firm-textured ewe's milk cheese originating in the Tuscany region of Italy. Since 1996 it has enjoyed protected designation of origin (PDO) status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Formaggio di fossa</span> Italian cheese

Formaggio di fossa is an Italian cheese originating from Sogliano al Rubicone, in the province of Forlì-Cesena, Emilia-Romagna.

<i>Filindeu</i> Pasta from the Barbagia region of Sardinia

Filindeu is a rare type of pasta from the Barbagia region of Sardinia. It is made by pulling and folding semolina dough into very thin threads, which are laid in three layers on a tray called a fundu and dried to form textile-like sheets. The dried sheets are then broken into pieces and served in a mutton broth with pecorino sardo cheese. Filindeu is listed on the Ark of Taste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of Abruzzo</span> Culinary tradition of Abruzzo

The traditional cuisine of Abruzzo is eclectic, drawing on pastoral, mountain, and coastal cuisine. Staples of Abruzzo cuisine include bread, pasta, meat, fish, cheese, and wine. The isolation which has characterized the region for centuries has ensured the independence of its culinary tradition from those of nearby regions. Local cuisine was widely appreciated in a 2013 survey among foreign tourists.

Pecorino di Carmasciano, or simply Carmasciano, is an Italian cheese of the pecorino family of cheeses made from sheep's milk. It has been recognized since 2009 by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies as a prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (PAT). Pecorino di Carmasciano was featured at Expo 2015 in Milan.

<i>Culurgiones</i> Stuffed pasta

Culurgiones are a type of Sardinian ravioli-like stuffed pasta. It exists in a version made of potatoes, pecorino cheese and mint, a typical culinary specialty of the sub-region of Ogliastra, and in several other recipes adopted in the rest of the island, such as in Gallura, where the product is aromatized with lemon or orange peel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of Basilicata</span> Cuisine of the Basilicata region of Italy

The cuisine of Basilicata, or Lucanian cuisine, is the cuisine of the Basilicata region of Italy. It is mainly based on the use of pork and sheep meat, legumes, cereals and vegetables, with the addition of aromas such as hot peppers, powdered raw peppers and horseradish. The local gastronomy is, for historical-cultural reasons, typically peasant, based on simple recipes and on the culture of reuse, in particular of meat and bread.

References

  1. ↑ Damiana Verucci (18 October 2016). "Lazio contro Sardegna, scoppia la guerra del pecorino romano" [Lazio against Sardinia, the Roman pecorino war breaks out]. Il Tempo (in Italian).
  2. ↑ "Pecorino Romano DOP". agraria.org (in Italian). Istruzione Agraria online. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 Pecorino Romano: The Story Behind One of Italy’s Oldest and Most Famous Formaggi, Italy Magazine
  4. ↑ "IL FORMAGGIO DI SARDEGNA - Fiore Sardo Pecorino Sardo Pecorino Romano Canestrati Ricotta Formaggi Molli Formaggi di capra". Archived from the original on 20 February 2007. Retrieved 13 February 2007. La grande svolta del caseificio la si ha poco più tardi, in conseguenza di due fatti esterni alle cose sarde ma destinati a segnare profondamente la zootecnia ed il caseificio sardo. Nel 1884, il Sindaco di Roma vieta ai "Pizzicaroli'" di salare il formaggio pecorino il "Romano" appunto, nei loro retrobottega. La cosa non fu da poco; i "Pizzicaroli" per un verso organizzano alla periferia della città le prime cantine di salagione, accanto alle qualisorgono poi i primi centri di caseificazione, ma per un altro verso resistono in giudizio contro l'ordinanza del Comune di Roma perdendo però la causa. Il formaggio Pecorino Romano in quegli anni conosce una grande espansione dei consumi, al punto che il latte delle greggi laziali non è in grado di soddisfarla. I "Pizzicaroli" sbarcano nell'isola per organizzare la produzione di quel Pecorino Romano che non riescono più a produrre in proprio. In questo e non in altro sta la spiegazione del fatto che il formaggio maggiormente prodotto in Sardegna si chiami Formaggio Pecorino Romano.
  5. ↑ Alberto Maria Delogu (18 April 2019). "Consumiamo il latte di pecora: è quello più sano". La Nuova Sardegna. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  6. ↑ Irene Melis. "Sardegna arida? Era ricca di boschi, l'hanno devastata". Globalist.it. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  7. ↑ "Il Disciplinare di Produzione" (PDF). pecorinoromano.com. 31 December 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  8. ↑ Kaufelt, Rob (2006). The Murray's cheese Handbook. Booadway Books. p. 141. ISBN   978-0-7679-2130-5.
  9. ↑ "Pecorino Romano". The Gourmet Cheese of the Month Club. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.