Pienza pecorino, emblem of Tuscan cheese tradition.

If you talk to a Sienese resident, they will always tell you that the true Pecorino Toscano is solely and exclusively that of Pienza. The Pecorino di Pienza is part of the “struggle” among municipalities that in Italy, and especially in Tuscany, has never ceased to exist. We say this with a smile, but we cannot deny it either. Yet this particular type of cheese gathers the enthusiasm of the hundreds of thousands of tourists coming from all over the world to visit this jewel of a municipality in Tuscany.

It is, in fact, the emblem of Tuscan cheese-making tradition and you can find it throughout the entire regional territory. The pastures of sheep are one of the most important legacies of Etruscan and Roman pastoral culture. Particularly in Pienza, where sheep graze in the open air among aromatic herbs and plants of the Val d’Orcia. There are three herbs that make a difference in terms of the aromatic characteristics of the milk, and thus also make a difference in the cheese once produced: ascenzio, barbabecco, and mentastro, three herbs with such charming names that characterize the milk from the hills of Pienza.

For the Pecorino di Pienza there is a DOP, not even an IGP for this extraordinary product, but this is also part of the tough and sometimes grumpy character of the Tuscan shepherd… which makes him particularly endearing! If he puts his signature on it along with his territory, why should any institution from above also need to sign it? You can trust the Tuscans from the Val di Chiana. Period!

There is a unique artisanal production that respects the ancestral tradition dating back to ancient times, and it is that of the Pecorino di Pienza aged for 90 days in oak barrels. In stores, we can find it more or less fresh or aged. Usually, the most aged one is black in color, aged for 60-70 days. The Pecorino di Pienza rojo, on the other hand, gets its color from being treated with a tomato paste crust. The white one, instead, represents the fresher pecorino.

This is a cheese that, aged according to tradition, is excellent for grating and for particular dishes of historic Tuscan cuisine such as soups, acquacotta, pappa al pomodoro. Furthermore, in flakes, it pairs well with some chestnut or mulberry honey. It is also interesting for cheese platters where a pecorino certainly cannot be missing.

Bernardo Pasquali