Pecorino Cheeses
Italian Cheeseaholic
Making the most of Milk – Italian Cheeseaholic
Aidan Benbow
Making the most of Milk – Italian Cheeseaholic
Table Of Contents It’s all in a Name
4
Going Back and Forth
4
Something a little more Exotic
5
Other Meanings
6
Cow’s Cheese vs Sheep’s Cheese
8
The Makings of Pecorino Toscano
8
The Naming of Pecorino Toscano
10
The Using of Pecorino Toscano
12
The Final Verdict
13
An Im-pecorino Start
15
A step too far?
15
Who Would Have Thought of That!
16
A Dangerous Delicacy
16
Try it if You Dare!
17
The Abruzzo Region of Italy
18
A Flagship Cheese
18
The Final Touch
19
Vital Statistics
19
One Among Many
20
Not just another Pecorino
22
The Advantages of Park Life
23
The Final Product
23
Making the most of Milk – Italian Cheeseaholic
Making the most of Milk – Italian Cheeseaholic
The Proof of the Pudding Mother Nature Every Time
Beats
24 Man-Made
Design
24
Not Just Another Brick in the Pecorino Wall
26
What’s so Special about del Sannio
27
The Nitty Gritty
28
The Not so Unexpected Ending
29
A Special Cheese Among Special Cheeses
29
A Different Way to Mature Cheese
30
Flies are Actually Good for Something!
30
Maggot Made Cheese
31
Other Types
32
The Final Word
32
Another Conundrum
34
The Final Straw
34
The Way Home
35
The Arrival
36
Making the most of Milk – Italian Cheeseaholic
Making the most of Milk – Italian Cheeseaholic
Cheese is what I’m all about. That might not sound like the most alluring epitaph, but nevertheless it contains a ring of truth. Cheese is something that we are all aware of; that we have an had different experiences of, and probably have an opinion about. Here, I am referring to cheese in the physical sense of a food substance made from milk, but cheese can of course have different meanings, and these things could also apply to those as well. Cheese might not seem like the most interesting or important of topics, but actually quite a lot can be said about it and learnt from it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say!
Making the most of Milk – Italian Cheeseaholic
Making the most of Milk – Italian Cheeseaholic
It’s all in a Name So, to begin with, where did the name cheese actually come from? As is often the case in English, a good place to start looking for the origins of a word is Latin. The Romans did many things to help in uence and shape the world we live in, not least spreading around their language. Many words in English have a connection to Latin and it would appear that Cheese is no exception. The Latin for Cheese was (and indeed still is!) ‘Caseus’. From this it seems that the Old English word ‘Cese’ came, which gradually became ‘Chese’ and nally, in modern in English, ‘Cheese’. It’s not hard to see how, over the years, due to different in uences people gradually changed and developed their pronunciation of this word. Even at my not so advanced age, I can observe how the younger generation are transforming their use of the English language. A few years ago someone thought it interesting that I was unaware of the word ‘chav’ which apparently has become popular to describe anti-social youth culture. Here, I won’t even mentioned people’s indiscriminate and non-grammatical adhering use of the word good, or frequent American Television inspired uses of awesome! Anyway, linguistically frustrated digression aside, the Latin word ‘Caseus’ is also the basis for the modern English word ‘Casein’ which means the type of protein which makes up about 80% of milk protein and, in other words, is then essentially what cheese is made out of.
Going Back and Forth Travelling even further back in time to before the Romans, it is believed that there was an ancient root word, ‘Kwat’ which meant ‘to ferment or to sour’. It is not hard to see how this could have become ‘Caseus’ in Latin in terms of the aforementioned vocabulary metamorphosis from generation to generation and ,indeed, from culture to culture. But also, in terms of meaning, it’s easy to see why this word would have been chosen for cheese as it describes well the process of cheesemaking (cheese being the product of milk that has been fermented with enzymes or soured with acid).
Making the most of Milk – Italian Cheeseaholic
Making the most of Milk – Italian Cheeseaholic
Moving on in time, the Romans found different techniques to take very simple, basic cheeses produced by curdling milk, what we might call ‘Fresh’ or ‘Soft’ cheeses today, and mature them to make hard, long life cheeses, along the lines of today’s ‘Parmesan’. These cheeses were particularly useful for taking on long journeys as they lasted a long time before going off, and so were in demand for soldiers’ rations. A new name developed for them, ‘Caseus Formatus’. The ‘Formatus’ referred to the fact that the cheese had been formed into a solid block that could be kept for a long time. In modern languages, the word for cheese often re ects one of these two Latin names for cheese. As mentioned, we have ‘Cheese’ in English as well as ‘Kaese’ in German and ‘Cacio’ in Italian. These come from the caseus root. On the other hand, we have “Fromage’ in French and the more standard Italian name for cheese of ‘Formaggio’. These evidently derive from the formatus root.
Something a little more Exotic A lot could be said about the names for cheese in different languages. However, life (in this world at least) is short and so we will move on, although not before making one more remark on this topic. Less known languages are often considered exotic. One such language is Romanian. It is actually spoken by quite a lot of people, estimates of up to 30 million including rst and second language speakers (I myself adding a one to the second language speakers total). Nevertheless, most of them live in, or around, Romania and so it is not a widely known language outside of this area. In any case, Romanian is a language which adheres to the already discussed ideas of having a word for cheese contacted to Latin. This word is ‘Cas’, which is comes from caesus. These are usually yellowy, partially matured, softmedium cheeses and are actually often referred to as ‘Cascaval’, the ‘caval’ bit referencing their rotund nature.
Making the most of Milk – Italian Cheeseaholic
Making the most of Milk – Italian Cheeseaholic
There is, however, a second word used generally to mean cheese, although it tends in everyday parlance to refer to white, soft, fresh cheeses, as a distinction from the slightly harder, more matured cascavals. This word is ‘Branza’. As you can see, it doesn’t appear to be related to the Latin ‘Formatus’. Indeed, it seems to have an uncertain origin, either being derived from the name of a place or from the name of a case used for putting the freshly extracted cheese curd into, in order to drain off excess liquid.
Other Meanings Over the years, the word cheese has taken on meanings other than preserved milk solid. Indeed, with the rise of the health and alternative food industry, the term cheese can now be used for many food products that are cheese like in nature. Tofu, for example, can be called ‘Bean cheese’ due to the fact that the method used to obtain it is not dissimilar to that of curdling milk and the resulting product is cheese like in it’s consistency and even in some of its uses. Another use of the word is in the expression ‘The Big Cheese’. In this sense, cheese means someone who is well developed in his eld; a leader or important person in their domain. This is analogous to cheese as being a product that can be well formed over time, which is the case for hard cheeses that have been matured for a long time. Cheese can also mean something lacking in quality or overly sentimental, such as it was a cheesy magic show or a cheesy grin. And, of course, let us not forget another very common use of the word, so much so that it is even known internationally, that of making children and grown ups alike smile for photographs. Say cheese! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cheese https://dexonline.ro/intrare/brânză/6747
Making the most of Milk – Italian Cheeseaholic
An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
Parmesan cheese, more correctly called Parmigano Reggiano, is considered by many to be the king of cheeses. This could well be to with the fact that it has many qualities. In particularly, it comes in different forms depending on how long it has been aged and so has many different uses.
It’s no surprise than that many attempts have been made to copy this cheese to capitalise on it’s success. Indeed, so much so, that Parmesan has become a generic name for all these counterfeit cheeses and real Parmesan is actually the aforementioned Parmigano Reggiano. This all being said there are other types of Italian cheese that can be used as an alternative to Parmesan. One of these is Pecorino Toscano. An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
Cow’s Cheese vs Sheep’s Cheese Parmigano Reggiano is traditionally made out of milk from cows. However, by de nition Pecorino Toscano is made from sheep’s milk (Pecora being the Italian word for sheep). Obviously, the type of milk that a cheese is made from in uences greatly the taste of the nal product (especially seeing as cheese is in essence a one ingredient product!). Certainly, a difference in taste can be detected between Parmigano Reggiano and Pecorino Toscano. This difference is most pronounced in less well matured versions, where, as is often the case for sheep’s milk cheeses, the Pecorino cheese has a stronger, more tangy avour compared to it’s cow’s milk counterpart. This difference (in my opinion at least!) doesn’t disqualify Pecorino Toscano though as an able substitute for Parmigano Reggiano. It has many qualities to endear itself, and in the mature version at least, a certain similarity to Parmigano Reggiano. Indeed, by the time the two cheeses have matured the taste, not to mention the consistency of the cheeses have become similar.
The Makings of Pecorino Toscano The process for making Pecorino Toscano is not dissimilar to that for making Parmigano Reggiano, although that is not surprising as in essence the process for making most medum to hard cheeses is similar and indeed it is usually just the differences in nuances that give rise to the wide variety of cheeses available. As a rule pasteurised milk is used for safety reasons as it kills off potentially harmful bacteria. (Some small-scale cheesemakers prefer to use raw milk as the extra bacteria can add to the taste of the nal product, but it is hard to nd such raw milk cheeses on sale in the common market). Liquid calf’s rennet is added to the milk, which has been heated to between 35 and 38 degrees celsius. This causes the milk to coagulate in around 25 minutes.
An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
The next stage has two variations depending on the nal product desired. The solid curd produced by coagulation can be broken up into hzel-nut sized lumps if a softer nal cheese is intended. (The bigger lumps allow more moisture to be retained). Alternatively, if a semi-hard cheese is wanted, the curd can be broken into smaller pieces, and maybe reheated. This is to expel more moisture from the curd, aiding the drying and maturing process. With Parmigano Reggiano usually only long term matured cheeses are produced, so the curd at this stage is normally broken up into small rice granule sized pieces. For Pecorino Toscano, the curd is then put into cheese hoops and then pressed manually, or by steam treatment, for between 30 minutes and three and a half hours. This expels even more moisture.
A little look at another type of Pecorino Cheese! The curd is then immersed in a salt solution for 8 hours for soft Pecorino and 12 to 14 hours for the harder version. The nal stage of the manufacturing process is to leave the cheese in a cellar at 8-10 degrees celsius and humidity of 80-90%. For softer cheeses, twenty days is enough to mature it. Harder cheeses require at least four months.
An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
A side on slice of Pecorino Toscano
The Naming of Pecorino Toscano Pecorino Toscano has only actually been called this since after the Second World War. Over the years it has had something of an identity crisis. In ancient times it seems to have been called Lunense, or at least the version of it made in the area of Lunigiana described by an ancient author, Pliny the Elder. Later on in history, it would appear that the cheese took on the name of Marzolino, which re ected the fact that production used to begin in the month of March.
An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
Interestingly, Bartolomeo Platina in 1475 compared Marzolino cheese to Maggnego, another name for Parmesan cheese, this one refelecting the fact some Parmesan was made in May, and saying that these two cheeses compete for sumpremacy amongst Italian cheeses. Finally, up until fairly recently, throughout Tuscany different cheeses were produced, but using variations on the aforementioed technique for making Pecorino Toscano, and each one going by a name contianing Cacio and a reference to the area where it was made. Eventually though, standardisation came, something attested to by the DOP label which is of cially carried by all authentic Pecorino Toscano and means that the cheese has been made in a certain area, using veri ed techniques.
An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
The Using of Pecorino Toscano
An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
Pecorino Toscano has many uses, depending on it’s hardness. The softer versions go well in salads, while slightly more mature cheese can be eaten with something sweet such as honey, jam or fruit. The real rivalry with Parmesan appears though when we talk about grating. Once Pecorino Toscano is well aged it forms a hard structure and strong avour which is well suited to grating over all sorts of pasta dishes. This is obviously the strong point of Parmigiano Reggiano too. Parmigiano Reggiano maybe has a slight edge on Pecorino Toscano as it can be aged for longer and develop an even more exquiste crystaline structure, which is great for grating (excuse the pun!) but this all adds to the cost.
The Final Verdict Overall, as we have seen, Pecorino Toscano and Parmigian Reggiano (i.e. Parmesan) are very similar cheeses, certainly at least in terms of production and the nal product when it comes to well matured versions. There are perhaps slight variations in avour and structure, which arguably give Parmigano the edge, but because of it’s reputation, Parmigian Reggiano is often more expensive than Pecorino Toscano, so Pecorino Toscano can be thought of as great, slightly cheaper cheese alternative to Parmesan. At the end of the day, it’s ultimately upto personal preference and, as mentioned earlier, for at least ve hundred years people have been debating which is best, Pecorino Toscano or Parmesan, so it’s obviously a close call!
An alternative to Parmesan – Italian Cheeseaholic
Casu Marzu, the cheese that’s alive! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Oftentimes, we think of things getting worse with age. How much money is spent for example on beauty treatments to rm up and smooth out wrinkled skin or on products to restore lost hair. This is true in many cases when we talk about food. Given the choice, most people would prefer a fresh loaf of bread compared to a hard and dried up one from a couple of days before, or recently picked fruit as opposed to fruit harvested many days previously, which is already starting to go bad. Milk and milk products can though buck this trend. Usually, we think of old milk as being spoilt, but actually if watched over carefully, milk can become something tasty and healthy in the form of sour milk. Beyond this, cheese is perhaps one of the best examples of something that generally speaking improves with age. We could say that there’s no such thing as old cheese, there’s just mature cheese!
Casu Marzu, the cheese that’s alive! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Casu Marzu, the cheese that’s alive! – Italian Cheeseaholic
The aging ( or maybe more rightly termed maturing process) adds not only avour to cheese, but it changes it’s consistency and structure, often making it suitable for different uses, such as grating, plus preserving it and concentrating its nutritional value. One particularly interesting example is Casu Marzu, an Italian cheese which is ‚matured’ in a very notable and debatable way.
An Im-pecorino Start Casu Marzu actually begins life as a different cheese called, “Pecorino Sardo”. Pecora in Italian means sheep and so “Pecorino” is a family of cheese made from sheep’s milk. The “Sardo” refers to “of Sardinia”, in other words, “Pecorino Sardo” is a sheep’s milk cheese from Sardinia. The Pecorino cheeses can be matured for different lengths of time in order to produce cheeses that range from soft to hard and crumbly. Cheese which has been left for 20 to 60 days forms a thin rind, is straw coloured and has a sweet taste. Alternatively, by leaving the cheese to mature for at least 120 days, a darker rind is formed, the cheese itself becomes straw-coloured and the taste is now strong and slightly spicy. Whatever the variety, these Pecorino Sardo cheeses are pleasant cheeses with many different uses. One might say that they are impeccable. However, there is a further method that can be used to mature them, producing what is known as Casu Marzu.
A step too far? Once a nice wheel of Pecorino cheese has been obtained, it would be tempting to think that the cheesemaker’s work is done and now the time has come either to enjoy the cheese himself or to make a little pro t by selling it. In Sardinia, though this is not necessarily the case.
Casu Marzu, the cheese that’s alive! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Casu Marzu, the cheese that’s alive! – Italian Cheeseaholic
At some point in the past it was discovered that by removing part of the rind of the Pecorino cheese and then leaving outside, the cheese becomes infested with small white worms. These are the larvae of the so-called ‘cheese y’, a little insect that loves to lay its eggs in cheese (not to mention meats and sh). The eggs hatch resulting in the cheese becoming full of the white worms, which begin to eat away at the cheese. Not, you might imagine, the best of situations. However, as it happens, the worms simply break down the fat in the cheese, causing it to become softer and slightly liquidy. The cheese itself remains edible and in terms of taste, many would say that it is actually improved rathered than harmed in spite of the presence of the little invaders.
Who Would Have Thought of That! On rst hearing, it is hard to believe that people came up with the process for making Casu Marzu, let alone began eating it. With a little meditation though on the subject, a possible explanation is not too dif cult. Perhaps in the past, when fridges weren’t around, some poor peasants in Sardinia found that their last block of Pecorino cheese had become infested by maggots and started to decay. However, due to hunger and poverty preventing them from nding an alternative, they just went for it and ate the cheese anyway. They were probably pleasantly surprised to nd that the cheese still tasted good, arguably better than before, and not suffering any serious ill effects afterwards, decided that in the future a good way to make the most of old Pecorino cheese is to let it decay into Casu Marzu.
A Dangerous Delicacy Maybe in the past, people consumed Casu Marzu as a result of not having any choice. In this day and age though we are often much more health and hygiene conscience when it comes to our diets.
Casu Marzu, the cheese that’s alive! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Casu Marzu, the cheese that’s alive! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Because of this, a cheese that contains live worms is probably not everybody’s cup of tea. Indeed, it is debatable if the cheese is even legal due to the fact that it’s production breaks many hygiene rules. The main health risk of Casu Marzu is that the worms might survive the ingestion process and continue to live in a person’s intestines as parasites. For this reason, the worms can be killed before consuming the cheese either by refrigeration or by sealing the cheese in an airtight bag to starve the worms of oxygen. Ironically, a sign that the cheese itself is safe to eat is the fact that the worms in it are still alive. If the worms have died naturally, it shows that the cheese has gone too far down the road in the decay process, and so isn’t t for human consumption anymore
Try it if You Dare! The very name of this cheese makes it not sound very appetising. ‘Casu’ is a word that means cheese and ‘Marzu’ means rotten or putrid. Arguably, not the rst thing that you would want to go for on a restaurant’s menu or to accompany your dinner after a long day’s work. That being said, in Sardinia at least there is a long tradition of making and eating Casu Marzu, so it can’t be all bad. Personally, I haven’t tried this cheese and would have to think twice about whether I would if given the opportunity, but for those of us with a strong stomach and an appetite for adventure, it might be worth a go!
Casu Marzu, the cheese that’s alive! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Pecorino Abruzzese, Part of a big, cheesy Family! – Italian Cheeseaholic
We don’t usually think of cheeses belonging to families. But actually, cheeses can be classi ed into different groups, using different criteria, such as the production method used or rmness of the resulting cheese. One other way of grouping cheeses is based on the source of the milk used for producing the cheese. Such a classi cation gives rise to the Italian Pecorino cheese family. Pecora is the Italian word for sheep and so Pecorino cheese is cheese made from Sheep’s (i.e. Ewe’s) milk. Due to the diversity of cheese across Italy, but similarity in production techniques, there are many different types of cheese made from Ewe’s milk, many of them known under the name of Pecorino. One of them is Pecorino Abruzzese.
The Abruzzo Region of Italy To someone unfamiliar with the geography of Italy, this might seem like an obscure name. However, once one is aware that there is a region in south central Italy called Abruzzo, things become a bit clearer. Evidently, Pecorino Abruzzese is Pecorino cheese made in Abruzzo! The Abruzzo region has a number of notable cheeses, although all but two (Caciocavallo di Agnone and Stracciata) are linked in some way to Ewe’s milk and so are Pecorino type cheeses. Of these, Pecorino Abruzzese, as the name suggests, can be considered the standard version of Pecorino cheese from the area.
A Flagship Cheese Pecorino Abruzzese is made from ewe’s milk (worth taking into consideration that these are ewe’s that have been grazed in the Abruzzo area due to the dif culties in transporting milk long distances thus the milk takes on board avours characteristic to the region). It is made using a fairly standard Pecorino method.
Pecorino Abruzzese, Part of a big, cheesy Family! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Pecorino Abruzzese, Part of a big, cheesy Family! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Rennet, an enzyme that coagulates milk i.e. causes the casein protein in it to solidify and come out of solution, is added to ewe’s milk that hasn’t been pasteurised. The milk is treated raw so that it contains more bacteria that help in the maturation process. The rennet is added in liquid form and can be lamb’s or kid’s (i.e. baby goats!) rennet. Before the rennet is added, the milk is heated to 38 degrees Celsius. This increases the acidity of the milk, something which also aids the coagulation process. After the rennet is added, the solution is left for around an hour. Once this time has passed, the milk has formed a gel due to the protein solidifying. The solid part of the gel is called curd. By hand, this curd is broken up into large lumps and allowed to stand. This initiates the process of the solid curd separating from the liquid part, known as whey. Next, the curd is hand pressed to further drain it of whey. It is placed in rush baskets and once again pressed. This is followed by brief immersion in boiling whey. This alters the bacterial make-up of the curd and so in uences the maturing process. After cooking, the curd is left for two days to dry and nally salted by being placed in a brine (i.e. salt solution) bath.
The Final Touch As with most cheeses (the exception being fresh cheeses that are eaten straight after production, such as Mozzarella) a key aspect of production is the maturation period. In the case of Pecorino Abruzzese, once the curd has been extracted from the milk and processed in the above mentioned way, it remains to be left to mature in order to perfect the nal product. Pecorino Abruzzese is generally left for 20 days in a warm, well-aired room, after which time it is consumable. However, in order to enhance the nal cheeses, they are usually left for a further month and rubbed with olive oil, before being given the go ahead to be sold and consumed.
Vital Statistics Pecorino Abruzzese, Part of a big, cheesy Family! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Pecorino Abruzzese, Part of a big, cheesy Family! – Italian Cheeseaholic
The nished cheese has a hard rind that forms during the aging process. It is wrinkled and brownish in colour with occasional growths of (non-harmful) bacteria. The body, or esh, of the cheese is rm and straw-coloured (i.e a pale yellow). The cheeses are at and cylindrical, and can have a diameter of up to 14-22 cm. The height of Pecorino Abruzzese cheeses is usually between 4 and 10 cm and weight between 1 to 3 kg. The production area is all over the Abruzzo region of Italy.
One Among Many As mentioned in the beginning of this article, all over Italy very many different types of Pecorino cheese are made. Some use a standard method of production similar to the one described here above. Others however, introduce regional and technical variations to the method, resulting in a host of different cheeses, based nevertheless on a basic theme. A number of these Pecorino cheeses are what’s called PDO cheeses. This stands for Protected Designation of Origin. In other words, some Pecorino cheeses have a legally protected status, which means they can only be produced in certain areas of Italy, using carefully controlled ingredients and methods of production. Of these special PDO status cheeses, Pecorino Romano is probably the most famous. Whilst Pecorino Abruzzese belongs to this illustrious Pecorino cheese family, it hasn’t quite reached the heights of this PDO status. This means to say that the way it is made is not so rigorously controlled as some other cheeses. However, it doesn’t necessarily follow that Pecorino Abruzzese isn’t worth a try. Indeed, the lack of PDO makes it in some respects even more of a specialist cheese as it is not so well known or widely produced and sold. More so than that, in Abruzzo there are a number of other Pecorino cheeses made. Pecorino Abruzzese is however the standard (as the name suggests) on which these other Abruzzo cheeses are based.
Pecorino Abruzzese, Part of a big, cheesy Family! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Pecorino Abruzzese, Part of a big, cheesy Family! – Italian Cheeseaholic
All in all then, Pecorino Abruzzese is a good example of a traditional local Pecorino cheese, which merits being given ago if the opportunity arises. It is a standard which can give a avour of Abruzzo cheeses as a whole and also a good entry in the Parthenon of Pecorino cheeses, which any dedicated Italian cheeseaholic should give ago!
Pecorino Abruzzese, Part of a big, cheesy Family! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Pecorino del Parco, a cheese that beats others at their own game! – Italian Cheeseaholic Unfortunately, in this age of modern technology, many children are growing up in a virtual world. In days gone by, the park was for many children the place to be. Here, they could have fun with their friends, enjoying fresh air and taking a break from the watchful eye of parents or annoying siblings at home. Indeed, it is common place for most big cities to have parks as not only children, but also adults, have much to gain from such a natural environment. It might seem like a stretch, but this analogy actually ts quite well to Pecorino del Parco. As the name suggests, this cheese has a park connection, and, as we will see, it has much to bene t from it.
Not just another Pecorino The Pecorino family of cheeses is a large one, containing many different varieties. This is mainly due to the fact that in Italian Pecorino means ‘of sheep’ so Pecorino cheese is then just any cheese made out of sheep’s milk. As can be imagined, over the years throughout Italy, many different ways of processing sheep’s milk developed, resulting in a wide assortment of cheeses. The basic procedure for producing Pecorino cheeses is fairly similar all over Italy. However, regional variations in the milk and techniques used result in differing end products. Firstly, raw milk is heated and liquid rennet (in the case of Pecorino del Parco this is an enzyme taken from lamb’s stomachs that helps the protein in the milk solidify out of solution) and the mixture is left until a gel is formed which means that protein from the milk has solidi ed. For Pecorino del Parco, the milk is heated to 38 degrees Celsius and left for around 20 minutes to coagulate. The resulting solid, otherwise known as curd, is separated into largish pieces and left to stand. Next it is heated brie y to 42 degrees Celsius, wrapped in special cheese cloths, and pressed by hand. This is all to help as much liquid as possible to drain out of the solid cheese curd.
Pecorino del Parco, a cheese that beats others at their own game! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Pecorino del Parco, a cheese that beats others at their own game! – Italian Cheeseaholic Finally, the solid curd is placed in rush baskets. These act as a mould and container as the cheese matures. The cheese is salted by pacing in a brine bath and then left for a minimum of 60 days to ripen. In this process there are two key aspects that add a little something to Pecorino del Parco, and so differentiate it from other Pecorinos.
The Advantages of Park Life As is the case with any cheese, the area and conditions in which it is produced have a signi cant bearing on the quality of the nal product. Pecorino del Parco is produced speci cally in the National Park area of Abruzzo, using milk from sheep that have been natural raised and fed. This results in adding some characteristic avours and qualities from the surrounding area into the sheeps’ milk and thus consequently on into any cheese made from this milk. The second point is that when making Pecorino del Parco, unlike for other Pecorino cheese, before being salted and left to mature, the Pecorino del Parco cheese curd is not cooked. This means that more of the original, natural avours, aromas and qualities are retained in the nal product. This then can be said to be the key advantage of Pecorino del Parco over other Pecorino cheeses. It has been made organically in a health environment. Parks are often places where people entertain themselves with different ball games. For Pecorino del Parco, it’s origin in the surroundings of a National Park and all the bene ts it retains due to the healthy, varied pasture that the sheep there enjoy, is what helps it score a winning goal against the other Pecorino cheeses in its league!
The Final Product My home economics teacher always used to say that you eat with your eyes. There is certainly some truth to this. Snails or some insects might actually be healthy and tasty morsels, but just the sight (not to mention thought) of eating something that crawls or slithers around is just not appealing!
Pecorino del Parco, a cheese that beats others at their own game! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Pecorino del Parco, a cheese that beats others at their own game! – Italian Cheeseaholic Fortunately, cheese usually has a much more standard appearance and so is generally palatable, at least as far as the eye test is concerned. Pecorino del Parco is a brownish cheese on the outside (Admittedly, maybe not the most appetising of hues, but not too bad nonetheless) and a strawwhite colour inside, which re ects the colour you would expect for matured milked. The outside is slightly wrinkled due to the imprint that is has taken onboard from the rush baskets in which it is left to mature. The cheese texture is rm, making it an example of a hard cheese. Usually, the cheeses are 14-20 cm in diameter, 4-8 cm high, cylindrical and 1 to 3 kg in weight.
The Proof of the Pudding Another old adage says that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. This can of course be applied literally in the case of cheese. Pecorino cheeses tend to have a strong, tangy taste, but not unpleasant. Pecorino del Parco adds a little something to this standard Pecorino taste due to the National Park area where it is made. Here the sheep graze on some plants and grasses that sheep from other areas don’t have access to. The maturing process hardens Pecorino cheeses, making them suitable as grating cheeses. Indeed, Pecorino can be, and indeed often is, used as an alternative to the more expensive Parmigiano Reggiano in grating onto various pasta dishes. Pecorino del Parco is also a pleasant experience to be eaten on its own as a table cheese. A tip is to try dipping it into honey for a particularly special sweet cheese combination, which can be enjoyed as a sweet snack or even as dessert after a meal.
Mother Nature Beats Man-Made Design Every Time
Pecorino del Parco, a cheese that beats others at their own game! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Pecorino del Parco, a cheese that beats others at their own game! – Italian Cheeseaholic Just as life is best lived out in God’s creation as it was meant to be, rather than cooped up in human made buildings, living in an arti cial virtual world, cheese is at its best when it is traditionally made using natural ingredients, rather than processed, factory mass produced versions. Pecorino del Parco is a great example of a cheese that is specially made by just a few producers and which embodies the natural advantages of a park based lifestyle!
Pecorino del Parco, a cheese that beats others at their own game! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Pecorino del Sannio, a Variety on a Cheese Theme – Italian Cheeseaholic
Above image from gransigliodellaforchetta.it Variety is the spice of life, or so they say. If we sit down to think about it, there certainly seems to be some sense to this notion. What indeed would life be like if we all wore the same clothes, spoke the same language, did the same things each day, watched the same T.V. programmes and so on? Fortunately, the wonder of creation is that things aren’t always the same, and this certainly adds a lot of value and interest to what would otherwise be the mundanity of daily life. And even more fortunately for cheese lovers, this variety applies all the way to cheese! It is hard to say how many different types of cheese exist. Estimates range from hundreds to a thousand or more. It all depends on exactly how you de ne things. In any case, what’s for sure is that many different varieties exist, with many differences between them. Pecorino del Sannio is one of them.
Not Just Another Brick in the Pecorino Wall
Pecorino del Sannio, a Variety on a Cheese Theme – Italian Cheeseaholic
Pecorino del Sannio, a Variety on a Cheese Theme – Italian Cheeseaholic
If we sit down and think about it, cheese is essentially something very simple and basic. It is little more than processed milk. In the same way that fruits are turned into jams, dried or put in pies, so is milk made into cheese in order to preserve it, not to mention to diversify its taste and uses. One such category of persevered milk is the Pecorino family. These are cheeses made in Italy from sheep’s milk. They are otherwise known as Ewe’s milk cheeses, logically really as ewe is the name for a female sheep, and milk or course comes from the female! The beauty of cheese is that diversity comes upon diversity. Pecorino is one of many types of cheeses, but even within the Pecorino family that are many subcategories, that is to say, different ways of processing milk, using milk from different areas, which results in many different types of Pecorino cheese. Whilst the various different Pecorino cheeses undoubtedly have similarities, that also have subtle, or not so subtle differences, which gives them their own character and uniqueness.
What’s so Special about del Sannio There are a number of aspects that make Pecorino del Sannio somewhat different to other Pecorino cheeses. Firstly, as in the case of many varieties of cheese, the milk used is important. In the case of Pecorino del Sannio, the milk is speci cally from Comisana ewes. Comisana sheep are a breed indigenous to Italy, originating in Sicily, but now found also in other Italian provinces. It is a breed of sheep for which the Italian national association of sheep breeders keeps a record (otherwise known as a herdbook). In 2013, there were only 28,428 sheep recorded. In other words, this is a select breed of sheep and so the speci cs and peculiar qualities of their milk go into making Pecorino del Sannio. Next, and probably most signi cantly, the actual procedure for producing Pecorino del Sannio differs signi cantly from the traditional method used for making most Pecorino cheeses.
Pecorino del Sannio, a Variety on a Cheese Theme – Italian Cheeseaholic
Pecorino del Sannio, a Variety on a Cheese Theme – Italian Cheeseaholic
To begin with, raw milk is used. This is not so different from many other small-scale, artisanal cheeses, but is a big difference to most mass-produced cheeses. Raw milk has a very different bacterial makeup to pasteurised milk as the aim of the pasteurisation process is just that, to destroy bacteria so that milk, and indeed anything made from it, lasts longer. However, these bacteria are a key component in the process of making cheese and the nal product that results, so it is often thought that it is best to use raw milk to help and enhance the making of certain cheeses. In America and elsewhere the use of raw milk for cheesemaking is generally not allowed nevertheless as it is seen risky for the quality and health-giving, or otherwise, properties of the resulting cheeses. This raw milk is ltered to remove impurities and heated to 30 degrees Celsius, another deviation from standard Pecorino technique, which usually heats the milk to a slightly higher temperature. Next the main part, and arguably biggest difference, of the cheesemaking, begins.
The Nitty Gritty Cheesemaking can be thought of as having two key steps. Firstly, extracting the solid cheese protein from milk, and then secondly, the process of maturing this solid to produce the nal product. Once the milk has been warmed, a tiny amount of lamb’s rennet in the form of a paste is added. This stimulates the process of the solid protein separating out from the liquid part of the milk. However, using just a small quantity of rennet and only gently heating the milk causes the process to go slowly. For other Pecorino cheeses, this process can be done in less than an hour, in some cases even in 20 minutes. But not Pecorino del Sannio, which can take up to six hours to coagulate. The separating out of solid and liquid in milk is caused by an increase of acidity of the solution. A component called rennet is added to make this happen faster, so most cheeses can be called rennet coagulated cheeses, but Pecorino del Sannio is more of a rennet-assisted lactic acid coagulation cheese.
Pecorino del Sannio, a Variety on a Cheese Theme – Italian Cheeseaholic
Pecorino del Sannio, a Variety on a Cheese Theme – Italian Cheeseaholic
The slow coagulation process in uences the properties of the milk that are retained in the solid cheese curd that is precipitated from it, and so has a knock-on effect for the nal cheese made.
The Not so Unexpected Ending Once the curd has been obtained, the rest of the process is speci c for Pecorino del Sannio, but fairly standard in nature. The solid is cut up into rice sized pieces to aid the loss of moisture. These pieces are then hand pressed in moulds and turned over several times. This all helps the drying process. When dried out suf ciently, salt is rubbed into the embryonic cheeses. Finally, they are placed in damp, bur well-aired caves for between 50 and 90 days, in order to mature and take on their nal appearance. Once extra little nuance is that whilst maturing the cheeses are regularly oiled. This protects them from the formation of unwanted fungus on the outside, and seals inside moisture and other properties.
A Special Cheese Among Special Cheeses As we have seen, there are a few aspects in its production, that make Pecorino del Sannio different, and thus special, when compared to other Pecorino cheeses. The main differences are the milk used and the procedure for extracting solid casein protein from the milk. There are also some more minor variations such as oiling the rind as the cheese matures and indeed the speci cs of the region where it is made (the Molise side of Sannio in east-central Italy). All in all, this is what cheese is all about. Many different variations in production method are used to produce a great variety of different cheeses. From one point of view, Pecorino del Sannio is just another one of them, but on the other hand, its particular way of being made makes it special in its own right!
Pecorino del Sannio, a Variety on a Cheese Theme – Italian Cheeseaholic
Marcetto, the Cheese with a Catch! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Waste not, want not is a common and wise expression in the English language. What could be better than making the most of what we have for personal bene t, not to mention in order to help those around. In the world of cheese making such a philosophy also exists. Over the years, as cheese making techniques developed, cheese makers found ways to make the most of any by-products or waste. One shinning example are whey cheeses such as Ricotta, which are made from the liquid part of milk called whey. The majority of cheeses are made from the solid part of the milk, but so as not to waste the whey, methods were developed for making cheeses out of the proteins which can be extracted from this whey by heating it. Another are cheese in the mould (as it were!) of Marcetto. These can be thought of as cheeses that are an attempt to salvage something from goneoff sheep’s cheeses. Whilst the thought of saving what would otherwise be waste cheese, is a noble one, the details involved are not for the faint hearted, or indeed weak stomached!
A Different Way to Mature Cheese In making cheese, there are two essential steps. Firstly, getting the protein out of the milk to form a solid. Secondly, this protein needs to be worked and matured to form the nal cheese. There are many different variations on how to do this thus such a wide range of cheese are in existence. In the case of Marcetto, a very special method is employed to mature the cheese. A big clue to what this method might be is given when we think about the origin of the name Marcetto. It is very likely that this is a dialect term for maggot! It sounds ominous and not altogether appetising, but it is actually true that certain maggots when introduced into cheese, break down fat and produce a soft cheese that is edible!
Flies are Actually Good for Something!
Marcetto, the Cheese with a Catch! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Marcetto, the Cheese with a Catch! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Sometimes we could ask ourselves the question, what ies are actually good for? Well, in the wonder of God’s creation, even the more insigni cant beings have their part to play. In the case of the so-called cheese y, Piophila casei, one good thing that could be said is the larvaes’ role in helping to mature bad cheese. Sheep, or in Italian Pecorino, cheese is widely produced in Italy. With such a large production and less than well developed preservation techniques in days gone by, it was obviously the case that often not all the cheese produced was consumed. As a result, it would not have been uncommon for people to come across spoilt Pecorino. At some point, maybe by a daring cheese maker or seller, it was realised that over-ripe Pecorino cheese, if left for a long time, actually became edible again. The reason is mentioned above. Cheese ies landed on this cheese, laid their eggs and eventually cheese y larvae hatched. These larvae began eating the cheese fat, which results in it being broken down and becoming soft. This soft product, once ready, it quite edible.
Maggot Made Cheese Over time, in varying regions of Italy, different types of cheese produced by maggots eating left over cheese developed. Amongst them, there are obviously differences depending on the origin cheese that was being consumed by the maggots. In the Abruzzo (South Central) region of Italy, Marcetto is the version of maggot, otherwise known as pitted (which sounds somewhat more appetising!), cheese. It takes about a year for the Marcetto to be ready. It starts with Pecorino cheese (a popular cheese in the region) which is in excess or no longer required because of poor quality or aging, being left in conditions where cheese ies have access to it. These in turn do their thing in laying eggs, which result in time with the bad Pecorino becoming infested with maggots. These eat their way through the cheese, until it suitably processed and ready for human consumption!
Marcetto, the Cheese with a Catch! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Marcetto, the Cheese with a Catch! – Italian Cheeseaholic
The nal product has a light pink colour and a creamy, but variable consistency (obviously, the maggots are fussy eaters!).
Other Types Marcetto is not unique and as mentioned above there are a number of other cheeses produced in this way. Probably the most famous of them is Casu Marzu. Casu Marzu is made on the island of Sardina. In essence, it is simply a Sardinian version of Marcetto, with old Pecorino cheese being allowed to decay until the cheese y larvae living in it have fermented it enough to eat. Again, the name gives the game away as to what the cheese is all about, Casu meaning cheese and Marzu a dialect word for maggot. Other variations on this theme in Italy would include Bross Ch’a marcia in Piedmont, Cacie’ Punt in Molise, Furmai nis in Emilia-Romagna, and Salterello in Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
The Final Word The Salterello cheese also has a very telling name, as this term refers to the fact that the cheese contains little jumpers! This is in fact the main issue with Marcetto and other insect matured cheeses. There is not necessarily anything wrong with eating the cheese (apart maybe from the thought of eating something that has been processed by insect larvae!), but unavoidably the nal cheese is obviously still full of possibly thousands of the larvae. Different techniques exist for killing off the little inhabitants before consuming the cheese, such as refrigeration or wrapping the cheese in an air tight plastic bag to starve them of oxygen, but it still means eating something that contains dead larvae, and who knows, maybe some have survived! Indeed, there have been cases of people being taken ill as these cheese y larvae can survive digestion and remain in the peoples intestines.
Marcetto, the Cheese with a Catch! – Italian Cheeseaholic
Marcetto, the Cheese with a Catch! – Italian Cheeseaholic
So the bottom line, before tasting Marcetto or any of its cheese cousins, make sure you take into consideration the risks. Probably, its best left to those with well worn stomachs or people who are looking for a real culinary adventure!
Marcetto, the Cheese with a Catch! – Italian Cheeseaholic
The Lost Cheese – Italian Cheeseaholic
For Aurelius, it had been one of those days. On the way to the forum, not so much a funny, as an annoying thing had happened. He’d been happily wending his way along, admittedly weighed down by the ten cheeses he had for sale, when he had bumped into Markus. This as usual meant bad news. This time it was all about his family’s new mosaic. It needed cleaning. Most sane people had slaves for this sort of thing, but not the Maximus’. Their slaves were already busy with other chores and they couldn’t possibly go out and buy another one. That would of course cost many a Sestertii and they were already in economy mode, saving up to invest in their new country villa. So, guess what? Markus had invited (imposed would be more accurately said) on Aurelius to come and help. Aurelius, being a servant hearted sort of chap, couldn’t help but agree, even though dies saturni was usually his day of rest. Somebody always wants something, but rarely does anybody want to give, thought Aurelius to himself.
Another Conundrum That was everything by all means on this fateful day. Hardly, had Aurelius got away from Markus when who should come across his path other than Sophia. She was a statuesque girl, not so young as it happens, but nevertheless a black beauty. From what he heard and the little he had observed a very diligent person as well. A good wife option it would seem, but for Aurelius she wouldn’t even given him the time of day, even though her family had one of the best sundials around! When he spied her, he thought about trying to bump into her as it were and start a conversation, but this was easy said than done as Aurelius was a nervous, hesitant chap and anyway, as soon as Sophia saw him, she altered course. Oh well, maybe another day, but probably not!
The Final Straw
The Lost Cheese – Italian Cheeseaholic
The Lost Cheese – Italian Cheeseaholic
Finally, Aurelius had arrived at his intended destination, the Forum in the centre of his town. To top off the other annoyances of the day it had begun to rain, and umbrellas hadn’t been invented yet, so he was just going to have to get jolly wet. It was all in a good cause he thought though, as he laid out the cheeses he had for sale. But alas, there was still one more misfortunate to be had on this horrid day, quidem he was supposed to have ten cheeses, but there were only nine in his leather loculus! What to do? Should he stick it out in the rain and try and sell what he had, or would this prove to be a fruitless endeavor and maybe he would be better off to go and search for the lost cheese? He mused for a little while, but soon it was clear that due to the inclement weather there weren’t be many buyers for his dairy fare. So, reluctantly he packed up to return home thinking that he would check on the way in case he had dropped the cheese. He thought this unlikely, but you never know. He was apprehensive about returning home, partly because of not wanting to get in trouble about losing the cheese, but there was also another reason. Lately, his parents had been acting kind of strange. They’d got involved in a new group of friends. Nothing wrong with that, except Aurelius had heard rumors that they were members of a new religious cult that had recently been spreading. Sounded a bit worrying to Aurelius, especially as from what he knew, the Roman empire didn’t take kindly to such things as new religions that could threaten the Pax Romana. By Jupiter, this could all mean trouble!
The Way Home As Aurelius wound his way back home, he checked the streets for any signs of his lost cheese. It was a hard, well preserved one, Parmesanium he was thinking of naming it after one his favourite towns (they just serve the best ham around!) but his parents seem to prefer the more mundane caseus rmus, which was at least an accurate description.
The Lost Cheese – Italian Cheeseaholic
The Lost Cheese – Italian Cheeseaholic
No sign of the cheese, but plenty of time for re ection. In the past, his parents would have been very angry about such oversights, but recently, since they met their new friends actually, things had changed somewhat. They seemed calmer and to have a much more relaxed perspective about the stresses and strains of daily life. What could the cause be? Maybe this new religion of these new friends wasn’t such a bad thing after all? I’m not sure Caesar will see it that way though, thought Aurelius, unless of course his parents have gotten some new friends as well.
The Arrival Finally, after a fruitless journey home, there it was before him, his family’s condominium (the neighbours were a bit of a wrench, but maybe Aurelius could introduce them to these new friends of his parents and then there wouldn’t be any more bards after midnight or barneys before). Aurelius had a quick check around the outer court to see if there was any cheese sitting around, but alas none was to be found. He approached the doorway (he’d be thinking about latching something out of wood over the space to ip back and forth but hadn’t quite gotten around to it). Maybe, it was just as well that the doorway was open, as sounds easy emanated forthwith. Aurelius became conscientious that there were guests in the house. Once again, taking advantage of the open doorway, he peered inside. There were his parents reclining surrounded by their new friends of whom there were a considerable number plus there was a new gure. A small, middle aged, not impressively looking man standing before everyone in the room. He seemed to be waxing lyrical about something. Indeed, he was becoming very animated so as to say that it must something of great consequence. Aurelius’ initial reaction was to pull away. After all, he didn’t want to get too involved. He was young and had everything before him. He wouldn’t like to get mixed up in some new religious cult, especially not one that the authorities might not approve of. However, as he tried to move away, he strangely caught an ear full of some of the things that were being said. They intrigued him and he felt drawn, rather than to distance himself, to actually move closer to hear better…….
The Lost Cheese – Italian Cheeseaholic
Making the most of Milk These are just my thoughts inspired by the topic of Cheese. Hopefully, they won't be too cheesy and indeed might even be helpful to someone!
