Pecorino di Pienza: the origins of the most popular Tuscan cheese

Those who love Tuscany know that the food and wine excellences are an essential part of this territory and an ideal holiday should also include tastings of delicious local products.

We told you about pici and Noble wine, now we tell you the story of the most popular cheese known even by foreign tourists: the pecorino di Pienza.

Why is Pecorino di Pienza unique?

The unique taste of this cheese is due to an unique combination: the clayey soils of the pastures, whose scented herbs give the milk a peculiar taste of chestnut, laurel and herbaceous; the sheep, which are only 3000 in Pienza, and the milk with which a cheese is produced that is very different from the other kinds of ewe’s milk cheese.

This delicacy was sought even by Lorenzo the Magnificent, who went to Pienza to taste it, so it’s a specialty that has a long tradition, such as Tuscan wines.

The other peculiarity of this firm-textured cheese is that it is made from sheep’s milk of Sardinian breed, since in the past the farmers of Sardinia, experts in the production of pecorino, moved to Tuscany with sheep, passing on their craft skills and making this territory become a point of reference for cheese production.

The different varieties of pecorino di Pienza

The main varieties are two: semi-seasoned red, colored with tomato juice as a protective coating, and aged pecorino, which has a black colored rind. To produce it is used veal rennet instead of kid goat, so it is not as spicy as other kinds of pecorino.

The forms are seasoned for at least 90 days in oak barriques, which give the cheese hints of pomace. If the aging lasts 30 days, the pecorino is defined fresh, it is soft and is ideal as a cheese to melt or grilled. The semi-seasoned pecorino (from 2 to 5 months) has a crust treated with olive oil, while the most seasoned can be tasted in combination with balsamic vinegar, honey or jams, or you can grate it.

There are also most refined varieties such as black pecorino, with a dry and delicate flavor, the pecorino aged in terracotta jars and wrapped in walnut leaves, and the pecorino seasoned in a cave dug into the tuff. This seasoning process, which lasts 4 months, gives the pecorino an unmistakable aroma, distinct from the other varieties.

Incredibly, the pecorino di Pienza hasn’t obtained, until now, a DOP certification, but this has no effect on the delicacy of a cheese that has no equal, even in Tuscany.

Remember to buy a cheese wheel of Cacio di Pienza during your stay, or taste it along with a glass of Noble wine or with a DOC Orcia wine.

Credits preview photo: Dan (Flickr) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], attraverso Wikimedia Commons