Pecorino del Monte Poro

History and origin

Monte Poro is a plateau overlooking the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria, south-west of Vibo Valentia: a gently climbing road leads to a vast, rolling upland dotted with small villages, farmsteads and flocks, about 700 metres above the sea. Fertile soil and a mild climate have favoured settlement and sheep farming here since ancient times.

The cheese found its way into books early. In 1571 the Vibo-born humanist Gabriele Barrio, in «De antiquitate et situ Calabriae», mentioned the local pecorino and a good «cascio» appreciated throughout Italy; in 1770 the economist Domenico Grimaldi da Seminara recalled it in his essay on the rural economy of Calabria Ultra. Twentieth-century studies and guides went on linking its reputation to pastures rich in fragrant herbs and oregano.

The protection consortium was set up in 2016, and in 2020 Pecorino del Monte Poro was registered as a Protected Designation of Origin. It is also a Slow Food Presidium.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio pecorino del monte poro · Qualigeo — Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP — Il territorio · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP — Il Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP · eAmbrosia — Pecorino del Monte Poro (PDO-IT-02420)

Area and method of production

The area for rearing, cheesemaking and ageing covers 27 municipalities in the province of Vibo Valentia, all within the Monte Poro district, including Tropea, Ricadi, Pizzo, Nicotera, Briatico, Mileto and Vibo Valentia itself. The land lies between the Gulf of Lamezia and the plain of Gioia Tauro, and the Mediterranean scrub of the plateau's steeper areas provides at least 70% of the flocks' diet; the sheep are kept semi-wild and penned only at night.

The milk is raw, whole sheep's milk from the evening and morning milkings, never thermised but only warmed to 32-38 degrees, a low temperature that holds on to the aromas. With kid or lamb rennet it curdles in 30-90 minutes; the curd is then broken by hand with the rodu, a wooden tool, into grains as small as rice.

The curd goes into fuscelle baskets, is pressed and turned three or four times, then salted dry or in brine. Younger cheeses may be rubbed with olive oil; those aged over six months may also be treated with extra virgin olive oil and crushed chilli, which turns the rind reddish.

Sources: Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP — Il disciplinare · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP — Il territorio · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP — Il Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP · Qualigeo — Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP

How to recognise it

Pecorino del Monte Poro is round with flat faces, 6 to 40 centimetres across and 6 to 20 high, weighing between 300 grams and 10 kilos. It is sold in three types. The fresh cheese, kept from 20 to 60 days, has a hard, wrinkled, golden rind and a soft white paste. The semi-aged one, from 61 days to six months, has a hazel rind and a semi-hard, straw-coloured paste. The aged type, from six months to two years, has a dark hazel rind, reddish when treated with oil and chilli, and a hard paste of deep straw yellow.

On the palate it is mellow, nutty and fragrant, with scents of wild flowers, Mediterranean scrub and hay that grow stronger with time, up to the sharpness and savouriness of the aged cheese. The consortium links this bouquet to the shrubs the sheep graze on the plateau: broom, myrtle, wild olive, mastic and hawthorn.

Sources: Qualigeo — Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP — Il Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP — Il territorio

In the kitchen

On Monte Poro pecorino is a household cheese, used both fresh and in traditional dishes. As a starter it is served with sun-dried tomatoes, cured meats and vegetables in oil. Grated, it dresses pasta with kid or lamb sauce, the soup of broad beans and wild chicory, and gratinated onions.

At Easter, by tradition, it is eaten fresh with raw broad beans. For wine, both the specification summary and the consortium point to Calabrian reds: Cirò, Val di Neto and Melissa.

It keeps in a cool, dry place or in the least cold compartment of the fridge.

Sources: Qualigeo — Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP — Il territorio

Where to taste it

The Poro plateau rises behind the Costa degli Dei, the stretch of coast between Pizzo and Nicotera where Tropea and Capo Vaticano lie. From the village of Ricadi, perched on its headland, to inland Mileto, many of the PDO municipalities are the same ones that welcome visitors to our Tropea and Capo Vaticano destination: pecorino is the taste of that sea's hinterland.

Monte Poro is worth the climb for the landscape too: Italia.it names it as the place to admire the finest sunset, with the sun sinking into the sea and the Aeolian Islands in the background. Along the way the road passes villages, farmsteads and pastures.

The market, Slow Food notes, is mainly local, and decades ago guides were already observing that the area's cheeses were sold to visitors on the coast. Look for it in the plateau villages and check the label for the name Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP.

Sources: Italia.it — Capo Vaticano · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP — Il disciplinare · Italia.it — Vibo Valentia · Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio pecorino del monte poro · Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino del Monte Poro DOP — Il territorio

Protection

• Protected designation of origin (PDO) — PDO-IT-02420 (eAmbrosia — Pecorino del Monte Poro (PDO-IT-02420))
• Slow Food Presidium — pecorino-del-monte-poro (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio pecorino del monte poro)

When

• The sources consulted give no months.

Where

Calabria