By infopadweb 3 April 2024
PECORINO ROMANO PDO
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DESCRIPTION, HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PDO
The ancient Romans already showed great appreciation for Pecorino Romano, so much so that even the poet Virgil described its nutritional and energetic properties, its long-lasting properties made it a basic food to be given to legionaries as a supplement to their daily ration of spelled soup, a 27 g portion. which provided the right amount of energy and vigor to face battles. Pecorino Romano soon became a popular product and its transformation technique spread from Lazio to Tuscany and above all to Sardinia, where today much of the processing is concentrated. The territories have great importance for the production of this cheese, because the intensity of flavors that characterize it, arise from their peculiarities: favorable climate and natural expanses rich in aromatic herbs. At the basis of the quality of Pecorino Romano PDO is the extraordinary excellence of the sheep’s milk used and the great experience of the cheesemakers in its transformation, who manage in a skillful way to transfer into this cheese the unique and unmistakable hints present in the aromas and scents of the Mediterranean scrub.
Today Pecorino Romano PDO is produced in Sardinia (95%), Lazio and Tuscany in the province of Grosseto (5%), territories in which respect and protection of nature are absolute values. In these regions, the most appreciated sheep breed for milk production is the Sardinian sheep, a very ancient native breed, whose breeding is widespread throughout the national territory and which in Sardinia alone brings together 50% of the entire Italian sheep population. Pecorino Romano is a hard cheese, produced only with sheep’s milk from farms in the production area. It has a thin ivory or natural straw-coloured rind and can be capped, with special food protectors, black or natural in colour. The paste is compact or slightly streaked, the color of which varies from white to straw yellow, depending on the technical production conditions. Its taste is aromatic, slightly spicy in table cheese and intensely spicy, with variable flavor, in grating cheese.
Pecorino Romano PDO is a source of proteins with high biological value, calcium, CLA and vitamins B1, B2, PP, A and E. Its excellent nutritional properties make it suitable for a modern and balanced diet: its caloric intake is 384 Kcal per 100 g of product, and this guarantees high energy power and extreme digestibility, as well as being naturally lactose-free.
Consortium
the consortium FOR THE PROTECTION OF PECORINO ROMANO dop
Pecorino Romano DOP was one of the first Italian cheeses to obtain national and international recognition, starting from the Stresa Convention in 1951, through the protected Designation of Origin in 1955, up to the Protected Designation of Origin in 1996. The Consortium was established in 1979 and currently brings together 46 producers: 36 in Sardinia, 9 in Lazio and 1 in the province of Grosseto. In the territory of origin there are approximately 11,400 farms, of which approximately 10,980 in Sardinia alone. Approximately 80% of the milk production is contributed to the production of Pecorino Romano DOP. The Consortium protects production and trade through the activity of the Internal Supervisory Office. The DOP brand identifies a product originating from a place, a region or a country, whose quality or characteristics are essentially or exclusively due to a particular geographical environment and its intrinsic natural factors (raw materials, environmental characteristics , localization) and humans (traditional and artisanal production), and whose production, transformation and processing phases take place in the defined geographical area, in compliance with strict production rules established in the production specifications. This community certification, therefore, acts as a guarantee of a high level of safety and traceability of the products as greater protection for consumers.
Recipe
PECORINO ROMANO DOP AND PISTACHIO FRITTERS WITH PERSIMMON SAUCE
| 4-6 people Preparation: 15′ Cooking: 10′ |
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Ingredients:
– 100 g grated Pecorino Romano DOP
– 2 egg whites
– 5 black peppercorns
– a dozen shelled pistachios
– a persimmon
– peanut oil
Toast the peppercorns in a thick-bottomed pan until they begin to give off their aroma. Allow to cool and crush them coarsely. Pour the egg whites into a bowl and beat them lightly with a fork. Add the Pecorino Romano Dop and crushed pepper, mix until smooth and form hazelnut-sized balls. Insert a pistachio in the center of each one and close the dough. Heat plenty of oil in a high-sided frying pan, add the prepared balls and fry them until they begin to brown. Drain on frying paper and serve hot with the peeled persimmon, stripped of any stones and whipped.
Regions
PECORINO ROMANO DOP
| Tuscany Lazio Sardinia |
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