the Italian name for a cheese made of sheep's milk. In this sense it covers a wide range of cheeses, many of which are produced locally and only on a small scale.
Pecorino cheeses may be young and fresh, or aged and suitable for grating. The latter feature has given rise to a second, more specific meaning of the name: hard cheeses made from sheep's milk in the central region of Italy and in Sardinia, where they play a similar role to that of the Grana cheeses of N. Italy.
Many pecorino cheeses are small and disc shaped. With few exceptions they are heavily salted. Some have a patterned surface produced by a traditional mould of plaited straw, or by a metal copy designed to produce a similar pattern.
Pecorino Romano is the most famous. The classical author Columella gave instructions for making it which remain more or less valid. It is produced in Lazio and also in Sardinia, in weights varying from 8 to 20 kg (18 to 45 lb). It is salted and matured, and in its traditional form was given a protective coat of oil lees or suet, coloured dark. Another pecorino made in Sardinia is usually called fiore Sardo, because made with a rennet derived from flowers.
Other well-known kinds of pecorino include:
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
