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Cheese from Italy, Toscana

Pecorino delle colline senesi

Evening and morning ewe milk is pooled, heat-treated at 68 °C for about 20 minutes, then warmed to 35–38 °C and set with freeze-dried rennet and lactic ferments. The curd goes by hand into moulds and is salted dry, kept in a cold room, then ripened on fir boards. It is sold fresh at about 20 days or aged at 60 days or more.

Fully documentedCheese20 daysPAT (traditional agri-food product of Toscana)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo fixed amounts are recorded. About 10,000 quintals of milk a year go into it; wheels weigh 1–2 kg.
Whole ewe milk from the evening milking (kept cold) and the morning milkingMostly from Sarda ewes[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Lactic ferments[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Freeze-dried rennet made from natural extractsONAF's table says calf rennet; its opening text says lamb rennet[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt, applied dry[onaf-sheet]
Starterlactic ferments added to the heat-treated milk

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 days

Start
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68 °C

What changes: Evening and morning milk are pooled and held at 68 °C for about 20 minutes

Step 1 of 6
Pool and heat-treat the milk
Time
20 min
Reported
Temperature
68 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: thermised whole ewe milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Evening and morning ewe milk is pooled, heat-treated at 68 °C for about 20 minutes, then warmed to 35–38 °C and set with freeze-dried rennet and lactic ferments. The curd goes by hand into moulds and is salted dry, kept in a cold room, then ripened on fir boards. It is sold fresh at about 20 days or aged at 60 days or more. Made in 6 steps over 20 days. The longest step, ripen on fir boards, takes at least 20 days (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)). Lactic ferments added to the milk does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 20 daysReported[onaf-sheet]Ripen on fir boards
Temperature68 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Pool and heat-treat the milk

What makes this one different

ONAF calls it the best-known of Tuscany's traditional agri-food products. It is made from thermised milk with added ferments. Ripening on fir boards is part of its identity; the Fiera del Cacio at Pienza celebrates it each September.

Rind
Thin; white to light straw when fresh, yellow-brown to brown when aged
Size
Cylinder 12–18 cm across and 5–8 cm high
Season
Made March to August

Related ferments

Variants

  • FrescoAbout 20 days; soft white to pale straw rind and sweet, soft paste.
  • StagionatoAt least 60 days; hard brown rind and sharp, crumbly paste.

Safety

The milk is heat-treated at 68 °C for about 20 minutes, and the cheese is ripened at least 20 days.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

ONAF's sheet says pecorino has spread in Tuscany since Etruscan times. It says only Senese and Valdorciana sheep lived in these hills until 1960, when Sardinian shepherds arrived with Sarda flocks, and that 94 % of the sheep are now Sarda. The Fiera del Cacio at Pienza is held on the first Sunday of September.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Toscana (photo ARSIA), PAT sheet 'Pecorino delle Colline senesi'gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Pecorino delle colline senesi'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Pecorino delle colline senesi' (id 934)web