Italian Pecorino Cheese, Pienza’s Pride and Secret

Have you ever had cheese made from Sheep milk or rather Ewe’s milk?

Cheese from Sheep milk is called Pecorino. Pienza is famous for this local farm product. Italy has wide variety of cheese, all with specific names to indicate the variety. The cow milk cheese, formaggio, is hardly consumed in Tuscany region.

Pecorino is famous here.  They are so popular and sought after that they vanish from counters the moment they are stocked. The huge size of these blocks of cheese attracted me; I held one in hand to assess its weight. My thoughts raced to the luggage that had increased over the days spent in Italy, pity I had to leave it behind.

What makes Pecorino Cheese of Pienza different?

The quality of the cheese depends a lot on what the sheep eats and this reminded me of the story of Heidi. In the story Heidi’s grandfather goes in search of wild herbs to feed sheep so that the milk from the sheep would help her friend heal faster and be able to walk  soon.

So after all it is true! Milk from sheep that eat wild herbs is very strong and those that eat planted grains yield softer cheese. According to farmers of Pienza, their famous farm yields, pecorino, is the unique combination of Sardinian sheep, Tuscan grass, wild fennel, clover, and wormwood, the infamous herb that is the primary ingredient of liquor.

Fun with Cheese Rolling

Other than eating these, the blocks of cheese have one more use in Pienza. Visit the place on first Sunday of September and you can witness the cheese rolling competition. Participants roll the cheese block to see whose cheese rolls the farthest.

Pecorino cheese Pienza

Pecorino cheese Pienza

How to eat Pecorino Cheese?

Pecorino should be taken out of the refrigerator about an hour before being eaten, in order to let it regain its natural softness and to open up its taste. It is excellent when flavoured with some good olive oil.

Pecorino can also be served as a dessert cheese, with honey dripped onto a very thin slice but this is not a particularly successful combination. Since the mature pecorino is much sharper tasting, it is generally sliced into thin shavings to be eaten alone or with sliced cured meats.

Visit to Gurukul School in Sri Ravishankar Ashram Bangalore
Jungle Cottages of Smiling Tusker Elephant Camp, Assam

36 Responses to “Italian Pecorino Cheese, Pienza’s Pride and Secret

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.