Pecorino Romano () is a

hard Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...

, salty

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

, often used for

grating A grating is any regularly spaced collection of essentially identical, parallel, elongated elements. Gratings usually consist of a single set of elongated elements, but can consist of two sets, in which case the second set is usually perpendicul ...

, made with

sheep's milk Sheep's milk (or ewes' milk) is the milk of domestic sheep. It is commonly used to make cultured dairy products such as cheese. Some of the most popular sheep cheeses include feta (Greece), ricotta (Italy), and Roquefort (France). Sheep breeds S ...

. The name "pecorino" simply means "ovine" or "of sheep" in

; the name of the cheese, although protected, is a simple description rather than a brand: " ormaggiopecorino romano" is simply "sheep's heeseof Rome". Even though this variety of cheese originated in

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, as the name also indicates, most of its actual production has moved to the island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

. "Pecorino romano" is an Italian product with name recognized and protected by the laws of the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

. Pecorino Romano was a staple in the diet for the

legionaries The Roman legionary (in Latin ''legionarius'', plural ''legionarii'') was a professional heavy infantryman of the Roman army after the Marian reforms. These soldiers would conquer and defend the territories of ancient Rome during the late Republi ...

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

. Today, it is still made according to the original recipe and is one of Italy's oldest cheeses. On the first of May, Roman families traditionally eat pecorino with fresh

fava beans ''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Varieti ...

during a daily excursion in the

Roman Campagna The Roman Campagna () is a low-lying area surrounding Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, with an area of approximately . It is bordered by the Tolfa and Sabatini mountains to the north, the Alban Hills to the southeast, and the Tyrrhe ...

. It is mostly used in

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

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

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

and

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

about 2,000 years ago. Its long-term storage capacity led to it being used for feeding

Roman legions The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period of ...

. A daily ration of about 27 grams (1

Roman ounce The (plural: ) was a Roman unit of length, weight, and volume. It survived as the Byzantine liquid ounce ( grc-gre, οὐγγία, ''oungía'') and the origin of the English inch, ounce, and fluid ounce. The Roman inch was equal to of a Ro ...

) was allotted to the legionaries in addition to bread and farro soup. The cheese gave back strength and vigour since it was a high-energy food that was easy to digest.Pecorino Romano: The Story Behind One of Italy’s Oldest and Most Famous Formaggi
Italy Magazine It was produced only in the region surrounding Rome (

) 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. 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 kind of soil that was ideal for the promotion of

monoculture In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monoculture is widely used in intensive farming and in organic farming: both a 1,000-hectare/acre cornfield and a 10-ha/acre field of organic kale are ...

farming. 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

Macomer Macomer ( sc, Macumère) is a town and ''comune'' of Sardinia (Italy) in the province of Nuoro. It is situated on the southern ascent to the central plateau (the Campeda) of this part of Sardinia, at the junction of narrow-gauge lines branching fro ...

. Pecorino Romano must be made with lamb rennet from animals raised in the same production area, and is consequently not suitable for

vegetarians Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism ma ...

. Pecorino Romano is often used on pasta dishes, like the better-known

Parmigiano Reggiano Parmesan ( it, Parmigiano Reggiano; ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cows’ milk and aged at least 12 months. It is named after two of the areas which produce it, the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia (''Parmigiano'' i ...

. Its distinctive aromatic and pleasantly sharp, very

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

y flavour led to it being preferred for some Italian pasta dishes with highly flavoured sauces, especially those of Roman and Lazio origin, such as '' bucatini all'amatriciana'', ''

spaghetti alla carbonara Carbonara () is an Italian pasta dish from Rome made with eggs, hard cheese, cured pork and black pepper. The dish arrived at its modern form, with its current name, in the middle of the 20th century. The cheese is usually Pecorino Romano, Pa ...

'', ''

pasta alla gricia ''Pasta alla gricia'' is a pasta dish originating from Lazio. It consists of pasta, Pecorino romano, black pepper and Guanciale. Origin of the name According to the most likely hypothesis, the name of the dish derives from the romanesco word '' ...

'', and ''spaghetti cacio e pepe'' (of which it is a main ingredient). The sharpness depends on the period of 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,

and sharply flavored.

Other types of pecorino

There are other regional types of

pecorino Pecorino cheeses are hard Italian cheeses made from sheep's milk. The name "" derives from ''pecora'' which means sheep in Italian. Overview Of the six main varieties of pecorino, all of which have Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) stat ...

cheese. Pecorino Toscano (from

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

) 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 "

Romano cheese Romano cheese is a term used in the United States and Canada for a class of hard, salty cheese suitable primarily for grating similar to Pecorino Romano, from which the name is derived. In spite of the name, it should not be confused with genuine ...

" is sometimes sold; it is not based on real pecorino Romano, but is a milder cheese made with cow's milk.

References

External links

*
Production requirements
*
Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Pecorino Romano (Consortium for the Protection of Pecorino Romano Cheese)
{{Italian cheeses Italian cheeses Sheep's-milk cheeses Italian products with protected designation of origin Cuisine of Sardinia Cuisine of Lazio Cheeses with designation of origin protected in the European Union Sardinian cheeses Roman cuisine de:Pecorino (Käse)#Pecorino romano, DOP

Overview

Other types of pecorino

See also

References

External links