EyeItalia

It was a roaming nomad shepherd that unintentionally gave us the first taste of cheese, toting his milk in a ancient version of an animal skin boda bag; he jiggled, heated and carried it just long enough to let the enzymes of the animal skin interact with the milk and create something just as edible but easier to transport and longer-lasting than milk…cheese!

Roman Know-How: World’s First Power Bars…of Cheese!
Over the next eight thousand years since this most fortuitous mistake, humans have continued to produce cheese in many parts of the world. The Romans played a big part in diffusing cheese making know-how; spreading an established  “uniformed set of techniques” of production that left a trail of cheese making tradition throughout the empire. The Italian word “formaggio” comes from the Latin term “formaticum;” a term that referred to the shaped, hard cheeses made by the Romans. The concept of “an army marches on it’s stomach” was well-understood by Roman generals who made sure that their soldiers were supplied with this pungent protein-packed pre-Christian version of the modern-day power bar.

As the Roman Empire eventually crumbled, each corner of the colonies gradually developed their own particular styles of cheese that are still evident in the rich varieties found throughout Europe today. Despite the popular misconception during the Dark Ages that cheese was unhealthy, cheese making was kept alive inside European monasteries thanks to cheese-loving monks.

Italians Say Cheese—50 Pounds a Year!
The Italians, who surely carry more Roman DNA that most populations, have inherited a “savory tooth” for cheese and eat more than 50 pounds of it a year. One of the most widely made cheeses in Italy today is the sheep’s milk “pecorino” and its secondary product, “la ricotta.” Although various treatments have embellished pecorino over the ages, the fundamental cheese has probably remained largely the same for over two thousand years.

Sardinian Shepherds Bring Culture to Tuscany – Cheese Culture
The Latin word “caseus,” from the Indo-European root “kwat,” means to ferment or become sour. In Tuscany, the word “cacio” or cheese is interchangeable with the word “pecorino” which has become the trademark of Tuscan cheese making. Although the cheese had been produced in Tuscany for centuries, it was the arrival of the Sardinian shepherds who transformed it into a culture.

Starting in the 1950’s poverty forced most Tuscan sharecroppers off of the land to look for work in the cities. The poor contadini Toscani were replaced by the even poorer pastori Sardi…Sardinian shepherds whom for generations tried to survive the bleak conditions of their own rugged island but fled to mainland Italy and Tuscany in hopes of a better life. Thanks largely to the Sardinians’ tenacity and determination, today a thriving Tuscan cheese making industry exists in which both Sardinians and Tuscans work. Nine times out of ten, if you find a quintessential Sardinian surname like Bussu, Puddu, or Putzulu, they came to Tuscany as shepherds during this great diaspora.

Pecorino di Pienza: Jewel in the Crown
The province of Siena is the heart of pecorino production in Tuscany and the minute town of Pienza is the jewel in the crown. The heady fragrance of pecorino grabs at you when you walk past the well-stocked cheese stores on the main street. Cheese, especially pecorino, is the bread and butter of this town.

The variety of aging styles – invecchiamenti – are astounding and were explained by a local cheesemaker leading me past steaming pots of ricotta into the aging room where soft versions of pecorino mixed with cayenne pepper or truffle shavings sat next to showier, more aged versions of pecorino: Rosso – Red – whose color comes from being rubbed with tomatoes; Sotto Cenere – Ashes – collected from nearby wood-oven pizzerias are used to lock in moisture and produce a creamier cheese; Folgie di Noce – Walnut leaves – lends the cheese a slightly smoky and earthy perfume. In Vinaccia -Grape leaves – drenches the cheese in a strong, fermented fruit flavor with a hint of tangy tannins. Di Fossa – Of the Pit or Hole – is shipped off to tufa caves in Emilia Romagna where it is wrapped in cloth, packed between straw and grasses then left for months to re-ferment into the most expensive of pecorino cheeses.

Pecorino’s Little Sister
Pecorino’s little sister, ricotta, is a more tender member of the sheep cheese family. The first time I tasted freshly made ricotta was before the arrival of Europe’s version of “Big Brother;” The European Union: A fabulous bureaucratic invention created to clean up Europe’s dirty laundry, but instead has ended-up bleaching the heck out of it.

Andrea: Sheepskin Apron for Making Sheep’s Milk Cheese
Andrea was a shepherd who made cheese in a small Tuscan hamlet close to my home.  We crossed paths one day on his way to the public fountain and I immediately knew that he made sheep’s cheese: he wore the animal’s unmistakable smell. Handsome, fit, blue-eyed and intent on his chore, he also wore a sheepskin apron with the wool side towards his body and when asked if he made cheese, he simply nodded and motioned for me to follow him.

La Ricotta: 5 PM Daily Ritual
In a dark corner of his cavernous barn, a huge copper cauldron sat on a blazing fire. He was using the whey remaining from making pecorino, boiling it and making “la ricotta”…the re-cooked, final product of the cheese-making process. Stirring constantly, Andrea gradually scooped the clumps of ricotta as they formed and floated in the boiling liquid, and then placed them in little baskets to strain, compacting ever so gently. Dipping a big ladle directly into the pot, he spooned out a soft, warm, delicious taste for me to try. In the next fifteen minutes a handful of locals trickled into the barn, their spoons and bowls from home in hand, ready for today’s batch: a 5 PM ritual that had happened everyday for as long as anyone could remember.

Cheese It—It’s the Cops
A huge fiasco happened the day when the local policeman, who sadly was also one of Andrea’s ricotta “regulars,” brought the bad news that Andrea had to shut down shop because of the new European Community sanitary laws requiring sterile working conditions. This was the bitter end of the ricotta-lovers 5 PM rendezvous at Andrea’s barn, and the end of an era. 

Simplicity is the Key
Despite the odds, pecorino production has managed to thrive in Italy and lately has become popular also abroad, where it has been accepted with open arms (and mouths).  Often the tendency is to try and dress up pecorino and make it into something much more complicated that it is. The secret, which most food lovers know, is simplicity. To serve pecorino with honey or pears is the best way to really taste the cheese’s…and the honey’s and pear’s…incredible flavors. An old Italian saying goes: “Al contadino non far sapere quanto e` buono il cacio con le pere”…Don’t tell the farmer how good the pears are with cheese!  Which is to say: if the farmer doesn’t understand how good pears are with cheese, then why tell him? I get it, do you?

The good news is that U.S. Customs currently permits vacuumed-packed, aged cheeses to be brought into the U.S. So pecorino passionates, the next time you’re in Italy, bring some home and try it yourself.

—Text & Photos by Lisa Halderman