/ Our magazine / Pecorino Romano: DOP cheese with over 2000 years of history.
/ Our magazine / Pecorino Romano: DOP cheese with over 2000 years of history.
Pecorino romano, the DOP cheese with a millennia-long tradition: an impressive 2000 years of history for this aged hard cheese, intensely flavored, that has always enriched the dishes of our traditional cuisine and festive occasions! Yes, because pecorino romano is particularly used during the Easter period, much loved for creating traditional festive dishes or for making delightful platters to serve as appetizers or starters.
The long tradition of this cheese, produced in Sardinia, Lazio, and Tuscany with the province of Grosseto, originates from the banquets of Roman emperors, and it was considered an important food for legionaries. The significance of such food was particularly derived from its abundant salt content, which allowed for long preservation.
It is worth noting that the majority of this cheese is produced in Sardinia, famous for its sheep pastures, although pecorino is typical of Lazio. This fact, moreover, has created some tensions between the few producers from Lazio and the majority of Sardinian producers; a dispute that has involved the Consortium for the protection of pecorino romano cheese on more than one occasion, which is based in the province of Nuoro.
The DOP certification of Pecorino romano was obtained in 1996; a well-deserved recognition that could not be missed given the long tradition and history of the cheese!
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The pecorino romano boasts a very ancient origin; few cheeses in the world can boast a history of 2000 years, a history that involves the flocks of sheep grazing freely in Lazio, Sardinia, and Tuscany. In the imperial palaces of the Roman Empire, it was enjoyed at banquets and given as nourishment to the legionaries during their journeys, given its high salt content which allowed for long preservation. Moreover, pecorino romano was considered, thanks to its nutrients, a true injection of energy, and it is highly digestible.
Pecorino romano DOP is made with sheep's milk. It comes in a cylindrical shape with flat faces and a straight edge, featuring a very thin and oily crust, with a beautiful ivory or straw-yellow color. The cheese's texture is hard and compact, and it becomes more crumbly as it ages. Its color is white or ivory, depending on aging, with a very fine, dense, and evenly distributed eye formation.
Pecorino romano DOP is a cheese with a fatty, hard texture, with a medium or long aging, typically lasting five to eight months for the grating cheese. Aging takes place in temperature and humidity-controlled rooms or in Etrusco-Roman tufa caves, concerning the Lazio provinces.
The aromatic intensity increases with aging, marked by the abundant presence of salt. For this reason, it is recommended to taste it with unsalted bread.
The cheese is made with raw or pasteurized milk, to which a scotta innesto from previous productions is added. Coagulation occurs with lamb rennet from the production area. The curd is cut into small pieces and then cooked at about 45 degrees. After extraction and pressing into molds with the trademark, the forms are salted dry or in brine, and then the cheese ages.
The Consortium for the protection of pecorino romano cheese was established in 1979 by a group of operators from Lazio and Sardinia. Subsequently, in 1981, it received the appointment from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Industry for monitoring the production and trading of pecorino romano.
It was in 2002 that the Consortium received a new and important mandate from the Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies, concerning the DOP protection of pecorino romano.
The Consortium's task is to protect and monitor the production and marketing of pecorino romano, safeguarding the denomination in Italy and abroad, promoting its consumption and qualitative improvement, in collaboration with regional, national, and European Community institutions.
A glance at our pecorino romano for sale online will suffice to appreciate its quality/price ratio: the 300-gram DOP pecorino romano is the ideal size for family consumption, to be enjoyed on its own or with vegetables, legumes, or salads. It can be grated over traditional dishes like tripe or carbonara, significantly enriching the flavor with its strong, salty, and delightfully spicy notes. The ideal wine to pair is a structured white. You'll find that the 300-gram size will be just the beginning of a long love story...
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The pecorino romano contains 385 calories per 100 grams. It is a particularly energetic and protein-rich cheese, with 31.86 grams of protein, due to the fresh milk from the pastures, and it contains 39.50 grams of fat from the milk. It becomes a burst of healthy and genuine energy on all occasions!
Pecorino romano has an intense aromatic flavor, so deliciously spicy, that pairs magnificently with an infinite variety of flavors. If it already proves perfect to enjoy on its own, think about what can be created with such a flavorful, unique, natural, and nutritious cheese! Pecorino romano certainly has an ancient origin, but it fits perfectly with the needs and all the nuances of contemporary cuisine.
Let’s see some simple, delicious, and quick recipes to enjoy pecorino romano creatively!
Let’s prepare a creative appetizer: cream puffs with pecorino romano mousse! For this, you will need small pre-made cream puffs, ricotta, pecorino romano, chopped almonds, wild fennel, thyme, and pepper. Prepare the mousse by blending the ricotta with the pecorino romano. Add the chopped almonds, thyme, and pepper. Fill the cream puffs and garnish with almonds and thyme. Serve the appetizer as finger food: they are special bites!
A great second course, fresh and genuine, is beef carpaccio with citrus fruits and pecorino romano. To prepare it, you will need trimmed fillet, porcini mushrooms, shavings of pecorino romano DOP, lemon, orange, wild fennel, mixed greens, salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. The fillet should be cut into thin slices; you can buy it pre-sliced as carpaccio. Place them on the plates, garnish with greens, mushroom slices, shavings of pecorino romano, and fennel. Prepare an emulsion with the juice of lemons and oranges, salt, pepper, and oil, and dress the plates. You will discover how delicious it is, with the aromas and flavors of the sun!
Pecorino romano, a cheese from ancient origins, perfect for the table of Italian gastronomic tradition, including contemporary ones.
Antonella Iannò
S&M
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