On our recent trip to Italy Linda and I spent a few days in the quaint hilltop town of Pienza in Tuscany. We knew that this was the heart of the Tuscan wine country, but to our surprise Pienza is at the heart of the Pecorino Cheese region and a center for its production.
Pecorino and olive oil in a Pienza, Italy shop
Pecorino is a hard nutty cheese usually sold in rounds of about nine inches in diameter. It’s made from sheep’s milk with a distinctive light golden color that can vary depending on the myriad of additional ingredients added by the cheese maker. Pepato is a variety of Pecorino spiced with peppercorns. Many people use Pecorino for grating, like a Romano (Pecorino from the Rome area) in lieu of Parmesan, and it’s especially good on salads and pastas.
Pecorino is made all over Italy and is known by its regions (Pecorino “Sardo”, from Sardinia, Pecorino “Siciliano”, from Sicily, etc.). It’s almost always made in the winter and spring months between November and June, but keeps well the rest of the year. It’s universally aged for twelve months to allow it to cure and mature before cutting the drum-shaped round for serving or grating.
The rind of Pecorino is a pale yellow but darkens with age. The interior lightens toward the center. It has a salty, almost fruity tang that becomes more robust as the cheese ages.
While we’ve served Pecorino at our Christmas events we do not handle Pecorino in our cheese cooler. Perhaps we should because it has a long shelf life and matures well even after cutting into the round. Italians like to eat it in the Pienza area with a bottle of Montepulciano or Chianti. Pecorino goes well with Yellow Farmhouse Barbera or Norton with a piece of bread, crackers, or a piece of sausage. It’s generally available in the St. Louis area at the Wine & Cheese Shoppe, Wine Merchant, or even Schnucks and Dierbergs.
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