Pecorino cheese. The history of its origin and why its name makes me laugh. Pecorino cheese: what is it and what can it be replaced with? Semolina gnocchi recipe
Pecorino cheese is a hard cheese made in Italy from sheep's milk. This product has a granular structure, which manifests itself depending on the ripening period.
There are many varieties of this product, but among them there are 4 main options:
Today, many manufacturers add various fillers to Pecorino cheese, for example, black or red pepper, walnuts, truffles, herbs and spices.
How to store?
It is worth considering that Pecorino cheese does not tolerate dry or too humid environments, as well as temperature fluctuations. The purchased product must be wrapped in cling film so that the hard crust is in contact with air.
Beneficial properties of Pecorino sheep cheese
The benefits of Pecorino cheese are determined by the presence of a large number of essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals. This product contains vitamin A, which is useful for visual acuity, as well as vitamin E, necessary for beauty. Pecorino cheese contains B vitamins, which have a beneficial effect on the nervous system, which in turn helps get rid of insomnia and stress. This product contains ascorbic acid, which strengthens the immune system and helps the body resist the effects of viruses.
Pecorino cheese contains calcium, which, together with phosphorus, is involved in the regeneration of bone tissue. In addition, this product improves the condition of teeth, nails and hair. It is recommended to include Pecorino cheese in your diet for people who engage in sports or mental work.
Use in cooking
Pecorino cheese is an excellent stand-alone snack that goes perfectly with pears, grapes and walnuts. You can also serve this product with homemade bread with honey. Shredded Pecorino cheese is used as an additive to pasta, pizza, lasagna and casseroles. This product goes well with wines. In addition, Pecorino cheese can be used to prepare sauces that are suitable for both vegetable and meat dishes.
Harm of paneer cheese and contraindications
Pecorino cheese can be harmful to people with individual intolerance to the product. It is also worth avoiding consumption due to its high calorie content for people who control their weight or suffer from obesity.
In continuation of the series of articles about Italian hard cheeses, I am publishing a short review of Pecorino Romano - one of the members of the Pecorino family of cheeses, which are made from sheep's milk and aged for quite a long time. The name Pecorino is derived from pecora, which means "sheep" in Italian. The word Romano partly refers to the region where the cheese is made: Grosetto, Lazio (Rome and the surrounding area), and Sardinia.
You can read notes about other popular Italian hard cheeses (though made from cow's milk) here:,.
A little theory and history
The Pecorino family includes many different cheeses, but four are the most famous: Pecorino Romano, Pecorino Sardo, Pecorino Toscano, Pecorino Siciliano. For now, we are only interested in Pecorino Romano, which, it must be said, is close in production technology to Pecorino Sardo and Pecorino Siciliano (although it is distinguished by increased salinity). All four types of Pecorino are protected by geographical designation (PDO category), that is, they can only be produced within strictly defined areas. This ensures compliance with certain production and taste standards and helps maintain quality at a high level, although it has a negative impact on the final price of the cheeses.
Pecorino Romano is produced on the island of Sardinia (along with another local Pecorino - Sardo), in the provinces of Grosseto and the administrative region of Lazio, of which Rome is the capital. This cheese has been made in the vicinity of Rome for a very long time, dating back to the times of the Roman Empire. It is believed that this cheese was an important part of the diet of Roman legionaries; references to it are found in the works of Hippocrates and Pliny the Elder. In Sardinia, Pecorino Romano has been produced since the end of the 19th century.
Pecorino Romano matures for at least five months and is made with a significant amount of manual labor (in particular, it is “fermented” and salted by hand, and a lot of salt is put into it). The milk comes from sheep that graze on natural pastures in Sardinia and Lazio. Subsequently, the milk is subjected to short-term heat treatment (heating to 68 degrees for 15 minutes).
Then - at the right time - a strictly defined starter, an enzyme from lamb rennet (the lambs must again be raised either in Lazio or Sardinia), salt are added; then cylinder circles are formed, placed in molds and sent for ripening (of course, this is an extremely simplified description of the production process). One wheel of Pecorino Romano cheese weighs from 20 to 45 kilograms. The ripening period usually does not exceed 12 months.
I have already written about the Trentin company - unremarkable and not very well-known - in articles about and, so I will not repeat it.
The composition of Pecorino Romano cheese is as follows: sheep's milk (pasteurized), salt, rennet, lactic acid bacteria. Fat content - about 30%. The mass fraction of fat in dry matter is about 45%. Energy value - 390-420 kcal.
Personal impressions
The color of Pecorino Romano from Trentin is very light, almost white, but with a very slight yellowish-cream tint. The consistency is hard, granular, crumbling. The aroma is moderate, cheesy, salty, slightly spicy. The taste is rich, bright, slightly spicy, piquant, even harsh. The taste is very peculiar, I would say - not for everyone. Salinity is high. The aftertaste is salty, islandy, and very long. An interesting but specific cheese that not everyone will like.
Pecorino Romano can be eaten in its pure form, but it seems to me better to add it to hot dishes - for example, pasta, fish, and so on. And remember that you need to salt the dish itself very carefully, since the cheese itself has a high salt content. By the way, it is very likely that Pecorino Romano can be used to make excellent cheese chips that go well with beer: at least I have seen a recipe for Parmesan chips.
Nuts, toast, unsweetened fruits, and dry wines are good accompaniments to Pecorino Romano.
Where to buy and how much it costs
Pecorino Romano cheese can not be found very often in Russian stores, but for residents of large cities it is quite easy to find it. In particular, this cheese is sold in Auchan. The price of a 200-gram package of Pecorino Romano from Trentin is about 140 rubles, and if you buy it by weight, a kilogram of this cheese will cost you about 550-600 rubles. This is a low price; in regular supermarkets, prices for 200-gram packages of Pecorino Romano (not necessarily Trentin) start at about 200 rubles and sometimes reach 350 rubles.
Pecorino is an Italian hard cheese made from sheep's milk. Why does it cheer me up every time I say its name? Because a picture of a cartoon sheep immediately appears in my head, because in Italian “sheep” is “pecora”.
So, we quickly figured out half the title of the article. Now let's move on to the official part.
Like all major Italian products, Pecorino is protected by a Protected Designation of Origin (DOP) certificate. That is, these types of cheese can only be produced in a clearly designated area. And if you buy Pecorino, which is made in Poland, then know that it is a fake, but not an original product. Therefore, taste qualities may differ significantly.
However, the taste of Pecorino cheese may differ depending on the region of origin. After all, each part of Italy has its own characteristics of livestock farming, different conditions for keeping animals and producers’ ideas about the final product.
The Pecorino family usually includes four types of cheese - Pecorino Romano, Pecorino Sardo, Pecorino Toscano, Pecorino Siciliano.
- Pecorino Romano – produced on the island of Sardinia, the region of Lazio (the center of which is Rome) and in the province of Grosseto (Tuscany). It is generally accepted that Pecorino cheese began to be produced on the outskirts of Rome back in the days of the legionnaires and, accordingly, was part of their daily diet. We find the first mentions of this type of cheese in the works of Hippocrates and Pliny the Elder. It is noteworthy that in Sardinia pecorino began to be produced only at the end of the 19th century. Also at this time, Italian cheesemakers began to introduce pecorino to the American market, where it took one of the leading positions.
Pecorino Romano requires at least five months and the loving hands of a cheesemaker to mature. Indeed, even in our time it is necessary to manually add the starter, the enzyme from lamb rennet, and then the salt. By the way, lambs must be raised only in the cheese production area. That is, lambs delivered, for example, from the North of Italy cannot participate in the process.
After the starter and salt have been added, cylinders are formed from the cheese mass, which in turn are placed in molds and sent to ripen. One such Pecorino circle can weigh from 20 to 45 kilograms. The ripening period does not exceed 12 months.
The color of this type of cheese is white with a slight creamy tint. The cheese tastes salty, especially if you are used to lightly salted foods. Therefore, we can immediately say that Pecorino cannot please everyone equally. I also advise you to be aware of the high salt content if you use pecorino in any dish. Be careful not to add salt! Otherwise, your guests will joke about your state of love all evening. It is best to combine Pecorino Romano with crackers, nuts, unsweetened fruits and dry wines.
2. Pecorino Sardo - sheep cheese, which, as the name suggests, is produced on the island of Sardinia. It is noteworthy that the history of cheese making on this island begins only at the end of the 18th century.
The ripening period for Pecorino Sardo can range from a month to a year. Accordingly, the longer the aging, the harder and denser the cheese becomes, and its final price also increases. Depending on the ripening period of cheese, two subtypes are distinguished - Dolce and Maturo. Dolce, sweet, is aged for 20-60 days. Maturo, mature, 4 to 12 months. The second type of Pecorino Sardo is usually exported.
By the way, it is customary to add Pecorino Sardo and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese to Ligurian pesto alla genovese.
In the future, Pecorino Sardo can serve as the basis for the infamous cheese with the larvae of the cheese fly Casu Marzu.
3. Pecorino Toscano is the third cheese of the Pecorino family in our review, produced in one of the most famous regions of Italy, as well as partly in Lazio and Umbria.
Tuscan Pecorino is divided depending on the ripening period into fresh (fresco) and mature (stagionato). The first variety ripens for at least 20 days, and the second for at least 4-6 months.
Pecorino Toscano is kept in small round molds, pre-greased with olive oil. Mature cheese has a pronounced piquant taste.
Each head of Pecorino Toscano weighs from one to 3.5 kg, dimensions reach 15-22 cm in diameter and 7-11 cm in height.
If you want something more refined and refined, then you should turn your attention to such a subspecies of Tuscan pecorino as Pecorino al Tartufo . As you may have guessed from the name, this cheese contains white and black truffles.
Also, do not forget about such a subspecies as Pecorino Senese . This cheese is grated with tomato puree and has a characteristic color.
Separately, I would like to mention the Pecorino Toscano subspecies, which is not included in the DOP category. This is famous Pecorino di Pienza , named after the city of the same name. This cheese is usually aged in oak barrels. History says that previously shepherds stored cheese in barrels, layering it with leaves and ash. Thereby allegedly improving the taste of Pecorino. In our time, such cheese is aged for at least 90 days.
All these cheeses can be used young in the preparation of everyday dishes. But most often, locals use mature Pecorino Toscano as an analogue of expensive Parmesan.
4. Pecorino Siciliano - the fourth and last in the pecorino family, produced in Sicily using ancient technology.
Like many centuries ago, the production process begins in October and ends only in June. After adding rennet, the cheese mass is placed in wicker baskets, which in turn are placed on wooden boards.
As Pecorino Siciliano matures, the cheese mass is constantly rotated in baskets, thereby forming the typical round shape. The cheese is then salted and aged for another 4 months.
A head of finished Pecorino Siciliano cheese weighs 4-12 kg. The cheese is easily recognizable by the wrinkled yellow edge of the head.
Attention! There are subspecies of Pecorino Siciliano that are not included in the DOP category. Namely, unaged (tuma, primo sale) and semi-aged (secondo sale).
You can't go wrong adding grated Pecorino Siciliano to first courses or using it as an accompaniment to the win-win combination of freshly baked bread and extra virgin olive oil.
For all types of Pecorino, there is an unspoken rule for pairing with wines - choose red wines (less often white) produced locally.
Pecorino Romano is a cheese made from sheep's milk (Caprino Romano is made from goat's milk, Vaccihino Romano is made from cow's milk). Traditionally, this cheese has a cylindrical shape; cheese diameter 20 cm, height 30 cm, weight 5.5-22 kg.
It has a smooth, straw-colored crust that may be coated with oil or a yellow clay paste.
The cheese dough is white to straw-colored, the structure is dense, rough, usually without eyes.
The taste and aroma of the cheese is spicy, depending on the type of milk. To make cheese, raw sheep's milk with a fat content of 6.8% or higher is used.
Homemade Pecorino Romano cheese recipe
Ingredients:
- sheep milk - 10 l
- thermophilic bacterial culture - ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml)
- liquid enzyme - ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml)
- cold rich
- Olive oil
How to make Pecorino Romano cheese at home:
Prepare, wash and sterilize all tools and equipment. In a sufficiently large stainless steel container, heat the milk to 32ºC.
Sprinkle the bacterial culture onto the surface of the milk and let it soak for 5 minutes. Mix the milk thoroughly, being careful not to form air bubbles. Soak the milk with the bacterial culture for 15 minutes, maintaining the temperature at 32ºC.
Dilute in 50 ml of cold water. Add the enzyme to the milk and mix using a bottom-up and top-down motion. Maintain the temperature at 32ºC for another 1 hour.
Check for a clean break. If necessary, keep the mixture at the same temperature for another 5 - 10 minutes. into cubes with an edge of 0.5 cm. Allow 5 minutes.
Slowly, no faster than 45 - 50 minutes, heat the mixture to a temperature of 47ºC, carefully and continuously stirring the grain. Cover the container with a lid and leave it alone for 30 minutes.
Warm up. This can be done by draining the whey through the mold. Place the cheese in the mold, lining it with a cheese cloth. Straighten the fabric so that a minimum number of wrinkles are formed.
Press the cheese with medium pressure for 30 minutes. Remove the cheese from the press, change it and press again with a little more pressure for 1 hour. Dress the cheese again and press with high pressure for 12 hours.
Remove the cheese from the press and place in the brine. Salt the cheese in the brine for 20 hours, turn once after about 10 hours.
Remove the cheese from the brine and dry at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or until dry to the touch, turning each day.
Store the cheese at 12ºC and 85% relative humidity for at least 5 months. Turn the cheese daily for the first two weeks, then twice a week for the next 6 weeks. After two months of aging, turn the cheese once a week. Remove mold that forms with a cloth soaked in brine and vinegar.
After three months of aging, coat the wheel of cheese with olive oil to keep it from drying out while allowing the cheese rind to develop. Repeat oiling as needed every month or two. To achieve a strong aroma, age the cheese for two years.
The yield of Pecorino Romano cheese according to this recipe is 1.75 - 2 kg.
