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Cheese from Italy, the whole of Tuscany and neighbouring communes of Umbria and Lazio

Pecorino Toscano PDO

Whole sheep milk, raw or heat-treated and optionally inoculated with native lactic cultures, is set with calf or vegetable rennet at 33–38 °C within 20–25 minutes. The curd is broken to hazelnut size for the soft tenero, or to maize-grain size, and may be cooked at 40–42 °C, for the semi-hard stagionato. After hand pressing or steaming and salting, tenero ripens at least 20 days and stagionato at least four months at 5–15 °C.

Fully documentedCheese20 daysPDO (EU), Reg. (EC) No 1263/96; specification amended by Reg. (EU) 2015/905Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets conditions, not doses. Cheeses weigh 0.75–3.50 kg.
Whole sheep milk from the production area, raw or heat-treated up to pasteurisationSheep fed mainly fresh or dried forage from local natural pasture[toscano-disciplinare]
Native lactic cultures, natural or selected (optional)The Consortium keeps a strain bank of cultures selected from sheep milk of the area[toscano-disciplinare]
Calf rennet or vegetable rennet[toscano-disciplinare]
Salt, dry or as brine of 17–19% sodium chloride[toscano-disciplinare]
Starteroptional native lactic cultures, natural or selected from local sheep milk

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
33–38 °C

What changes: Rennet goes into the warm sheep milk and it sets in about 20 minutes

Step 1 of 6
Set with calf or vegetable rennet
Time
20–25 min
Set
Temperature
33–38 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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

Whole sheep milk, raw or heat-treated and optionally inoculated with native lactic cultures, is set with calf or vegetable rennet at 33–38 °C within 20–25 minutes. The curd is broken to hazelnut size for the soft tenero, or to maize-grain size, and may be cooked at 40–42 °C, for the semi-hard stagionato. After hand pressing or steaming and salting, tenero ripens at least 20 days and stagionato at least four months at 5–15 °C. Made in 6 steps over 20 days. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 20 days (Disciplinare di produzione della DOP "Pecorin…) and runs at 5–15 °C (Disciplinare di produzione della DOP "Pecorin…). Salt is 17–19 % (Disciplinare di produzione della DOP "Pecorin…).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 20 daysSet[toscano-disciplinare]Ripen
Temperature5–15 °CSet[toscano-disciplinare]Ripen
Salt17–19 %Set[toscano-disciplinare]Salt

What makes this one different

A pecorino set fast (20–25 minutes); only the aged type may be cooked, at 40–42 °C for 10–15 minutes. Vegetable rennet is allowed beside calf rennet.

Types
Tenero (soft, at least 20 days) and stagionato (semi-hard, at least 4 months)
Composition
Fat in dry matter at least 40%
Size
Faces 15–22 cm across, sides 7–11 cm high, 0.75–3.50 kg

Related ferments

Safety

The milk may be raw or heat-treated up to pasteurisation; the soft type ripens at least 20 days at 5–15 °C. ANSES advises pregnant women, people with weak immune systems, people over 65 and young children to avoid raw-milk cheeses, except pressed cooked cheeses such as gruyère and comté. The ANSES page does not mention this cheese, whose curd may be cooked at 40–42 °C for the aged type.

History and sources

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

The application for EU registration traces the cheese to Etruscan times and says it spread through the Maremma, once sold under local names or simply as "toscano".

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [toscano-disciplinare] Disciplinare di produzione della DOP "Pecorino Toscano" (amendment request of 26.9.2014, approved by Reg. (EU) 2015/905; a later amendment published in OJ C/2026/2420 was not read) (copy hosted by ONAF)spec
  2. [eamb-toscano] Ministero dell'agricoltura e delle foreste, Application for registration "Pecorino Toscano" PDO, national file No. 20, summary sheet (English), eAmbrosia attachment 72060archive
  3. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Pecorino Toscano'web
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov