Dairy

Pecorino Romano

Pecorino Romano is a hard, salty sheep’s-milk cheese of Lazio and Sardinia, made from whole ewe’s milk, cooked curd, and long brine-and-ageing. Young wheels are firm and sharply saline; longer-aged ones turn brittle, piquant, and intensely savoury, with a pale straw paste that powders when grated. It is the classic Roman grating cheese—leaner and saltier than Parmigiano, with the oily richness and faint lanolin note of pure sheep milk. Cooks grate it over cacio e pepe, carbonara, and amatriciana, shave it onto roast vegetables, or serve thin shards with broad beans and young red wine. PDO rules fix milk origin, lamb rennet, and minimum ageing; supermarket “Romano” without sheep milk is a different product. Keep cool and dry; grate as needed so the volatile salt-and-sheep aroma stays bright.