Dairy

Fiore Sardo

Fiore Sardo is a traditional Sardinian hard sheep’s-milk cheese, often smoked lightly and shaped as a convex wheel with a dark brown rind. Made from raw ewe’s milk with lamb rennet in pastoral fashion, the paste is firm, dry, and piquant—more rustic and smoky-herbal than mild Pecorino Sardo dolce, with deep toasted, slightly bitter-sweet sheep character that intensifies with long ageing. Grate over malloreddus and minestrone, cube for shepherds’ boards with pane carasau, or pair with Sardinian cannonau. PDO rules protect island milk and traditional make. The smoke should frame the milk, not dominate; farmhouse wheels vary more than creamery lots. Serve at cool room temperature so the dense paste releases aroma without tasting dusty.

Also known as: Fiore Sardo Affumicato