Pecorino Crotonese

History and origin

Pecorino Crotonese comes from the Marchesato, the historic region crossed by the river Neto, between the Sila and the Ionian Sea. In Magna Graecia, Kroton was already known for sheep farming: the consortium recalls Virgil's lines in the Georgics on the pastures along the Esaro and on the herds sacred to Hera grazing on the Lacinian promontory. According to the specification summary, the cheese was present in this area before the Middle Ages, and documents on its exports date from the sixteenth century.

For centuries its story was that of transhumance. At the end of summer shepherds from the Cosenza area brought their flocks down from the snowy mountains of the Sila to the Crotone coast, where they stayed for six months: this created strong social and economic ties, which culminated in the ancient fair of Mulerà, where wheels of «caso pecorino» and ricotta were bought and sold.

Over time the cheese reached the tables of nobles and clergy and travelled to Naples, with exports growing in the eighteenth century, under the Austrian viceroyalty. Today it is a Protected Designation of Origin.

Sources: Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino Crotonese DOP — Il Pecorino Crotonese · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino Crotonese DOP — Il territorio · Qualigeo — Pecorino Crotonese DOP · eAmbrosia — Pecorino Crotonese (PDO-IT-1111)

Area and method of production

The production and ageing area covers many municipalities in the provinces of Crotone, Catanzaro and Cosenza. Only whole sheep's milk from animals raised in the area is used, from two to four milkings a day, raw, thermised or pasteurised. The flocks still practise summer mountain grazing and semi-wild pasture, which protects them from the summer heat and feeds them on wild plants.

The milk is curdled at 36-38 degrees with kid rennet paste for 40-50 minutes, with no additives or preservatives. The curd is broken into grains the size of rice and left to settle at the bottom of the vat; it is then placed in the typical basket moulds and pressed by hand, a step cheesemakers call frugatura. The cheeses are dipped for a few minutes in hot whey and salted dry or in brine.

They mature in cool, lightly ventilated rooms or in sandstone caves: 60 to 90 days for the semi-hard type, over 90 for the aged one. During ageing the wheels are turned, brushed and rubbed with olive oil.

Sources: Qualigeo — Pecorino Crotonese DOP · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino Crotonese DOP — Il Pecorino Crotonese

How to recognise it

Pecorino Crotonese is cylindrical, with flat or slightly convex faces, and comes in four types: Fresh, Semi-hard, Aged and for Grating. The fresh cheese has a thin white or straw-coloured rind clearly marked by the basket, and a soft, creamy paste with a mild and pleasantly tangy taste. The semi-hard type has a thick, slightly brown rind, a compact paste and an intense, balanced flavour. The aged one has a hard brown rind, a bold flavour and a slightly sharp finish.

As soon as a wheel is cut, there is a light scent of sheep's milk, together with notes of hay, ripe field herbs, hazelnut and smoke. Fresh cheeses weigh from half a kilo to three kilos; semi-hard and aged wheels can be much larger.

To recognise it, the consortium points to two elements: the logo, a «C» for Crotone that recalls the head of a sheep, and the words DOP. The logo is fire-branded or stamped on the wheels.

Sources: Qualigeo — Pecorino Crotonese DOP · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino Crotonese DOP — Il Pecorino Crotonese

In the kitchen

Pecorino Crotonese is above all a table cheese, in its fresh, semi-hard and aged versions, served with rustic bread and with honey or jams suited to cheese. The consortium also suggests enjoying it on its own, with good bread and a glass of wine, or alongside cured meats.

The grating type adds flavour to pasta dishes and vegetable soups. The aged cheese goes well with other Calabrian specialities: sun-dried tomatoes, chillies in oil and Tropea red onions (Cipolla Rossa di Tropea Calabria PGI) in oil. The consortium also proposes a less usual pairing, with fish, and advises getting to know the taste of each stage of ageing to use it at its best in the kitchen.

Sources: Qualigeo — Pecorino Crotonese DOP · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino Crotonese DOP — Degustazione

Where to taste it

Pecorino Crotonese is best discovered in the Marchesato, a land of gentle hills between the Sila and the Ionian, green in winter and golden in summer, where pastures and farms are still part of the landscape. Among the ancient settlements of this grazing land, the consortium mentions Santa Severina, the village perched on a rock that ends in its Norman castle.

Crotone itself is worth the journey: an ancient Greek colony, the city of Pythagoras, with its old town climbing up to the cathedral and, just outside, the archaeological area of Capo Colonna with the remains of the sanctuary of Hera Lacinia: a name that leads back to the herds sacred to Hera recalled by the consortium.

Visitors to our Sila destination can follow the old transhumance route and head down towards the sea: it is the path flocks took for centuries, and the one that gave this cheese its character.

Sources: Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino Crotonese DOP — Il territorio · Italia.it — Crotone · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino Crotonese DOP — Il Pecorino Crotonese

Protection

• Protected designation of origin (PDO) — PDO-IT-1111 (eAmbrosia — Pecorino Crotonese (PDO-IT-1111))

When

• The sources consulted give no months.

Where

Calabria