Farindola pecorino

History and origin

It is a truly unusual pecorino, because it is curdled with pig's rennet, which gives it aromas and flavours of its own. The practice is very old: in Roman times there was talk of a «cheese of the Vestini» made with pig's rennet, and the Vestini were the Italic people of this very part of Abruzzo.

Farindola was once a populous village, with many sheep thanks to its large common pastures. Its cheese was traded at the most important markets of the area, Penne and Loreto Aprutino, where it was highly prized. Making it has always been women's work, the recipe handed down from generation to generation.

With post-war emigration, sheep farming and cheesemaking declined until they almost disappeared at the end of the 1990s, when the cheese was made only for home use. Its survival is owed to a few families; since 2003 a producers' consortium has promoted it, and the Slow Food Presidium has revived production. It is on Abruzzo's list of traditional products.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pecorino di Farindola · Italia.it — Penne · Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga — Consorzio Produttori del Pecorino di Farindola · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026)

Area and method of production

The area is small: the eastern side of the Gran Sasso, in Farindola and nearby municipalities in the provinces of Pescara and Teramo, largely within the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park. The sheep live free-range for much of the year and are milked by hand.

The milk, freshly drawn or from two consecutive milkings, is neither pasteurised nor thermised. It is warmed to 35 degrees and curdled with pig's rennet, which the women prepare on the farm with particular care, and the curd is broken into small grains the size of a grain of maize. It then goes into wicker or reed moulds and is dry-salted with coarse salt within 48 hours.

Ageing takes place on wooden boards for about three months and continues in old wooden chests or cupboards, from a minimum of 40 days to over a year. The wheels are turned often and the rind is rubbed with extra virgin olive oil, sometimes with vinegar or tomato juice.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pecorino di Farindola · Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga — Pecorino di Farindola

How to recognise it

The wheels are round, wider than they are tall, and the rind bears the stripes of the baskets in which the cheese drained. Over time the rind turns saffron, amber or dark brown, depending on age.

The paste is semi-hard, straw yellow and grainy, with small scattered holes and, in older wheels, a tendency to flake. It stays slightly moist even after long ageing, thanks to the rennet and the technique: a moisture that brings scents of mushroom, undergrowth, noble mould and dry wood.

On the palate grass and hay come first, with a faint animal note and lasting aromas. It is remarkably smooth, and its sharpness stays mild even in well-aged wheels, balanced by a good flavour of sheep's milk.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pecorino di Farindola · Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga — Pecorino di Farindola

In the kitchen

Guides list it among Abruzzo's must-try cheeses, alongside Castel del Monte canestrato, to enrich a starter, a snack or an aperitivo together with the region's cured meats.

One suggested pairing is with the honeys of the L'Aquila Apennines, produced above 850 metres: the sweetness of the honey suits the cheese's smoothness and woodland notes.

It can be found young, after at least 40 days in the chest, or aged beyond a year, when the woodland and mushroom notes grow stronger and the paste tends to flake: two different ways to get to know the same cheese.

Sources: Italia.it — Prodotti e piatti tipici abruzzesi: la guida · Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pecorino di Farindola · Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga — Pecorino di Farindola

Where to taste it

Farindola is a small village in the province of Pescara, founded by the Normans in the eleventh century in an area inhabited since the Neolithic. Its main monument is the parish church of San Nicola di Bari, from 1080, whose forecourt looks out over the countryside.

From the village you can reach Lake Pietralunga, the Abruzzo chamois wildlife area and the Vitello d'Oro waterfall, in the heart of the eastern side of the Gran Sasso. Here, in the Presidium's municipalities, the farms of the producers' consortium are at work, and this is where the pecorino can be tasted on its home ground.

Further down, Penne, city of the Vestini and gateway to the Gran Sasso park, is surrounded by olive-clad hills and recalls the markets where Farindola cheese was once sold. Castel del Monte and Rocca Calascio, on the other side of the massif, complete a journey among the cheeses of the Gran Sasso.

Sources: Italia.it — Farindola · Italia.it — Penne · Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pecorino di Farindola · Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga — Consorzio Produttori del Pecorino di Farindola

Protection

• Slow Food Presidium — pecorino-di-farindola (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pecorino di Farindola)
• Traditional agri-food product (PAT) — Abruzzo, n. 44, 26th revision (Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026))

When

• Production: all year round (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pecorino di Farindola)

Where

Abruzzo