Pecorino Romano

Hard sheep's-milk cheese fed Rome for a long time. The countryside of Lazio, the Agro Romano, made a salty cheese that could keep in a warm climate and season a simple plate of grain or vegetables. The name Romano records that origin, not a single farm.

Production later shifted heavily to Sardinia, where sheep's milk was abundant, and a portion is made in Tuscany, in the province of Grosseto. All three areas can produce the protected cheese. The taste people mean in a Roman pasta recipe is this salty style, wherever in the zone the wheel was made. Softer Tuscan pecorino, Pecorino Toscano, is a table cheese from a different tradition. Sardo that is not Romano is different again.

Sheep's milk is set, the curd is cut and cooked, and the cheese is pressed and salted hard. The salt is not a light finishing touch. Wheels are dry-salted or brined so the paste itself is saline. They are aged until they are hard enough to grate. A piquant edge, sharper than cow's-milk grana, is part of the style.

Sheep's milk is seasonal in traditional flocks, and it carries a flavor cow's milk does not. That is why a blend of Parmesan and Romano became common in Italian-American kitchens. The blend borrows sheep savor and cow's-milk sweetness. It is a useful kitchen habit. It is not the same as a wheel of Romano alone.

The taste is salty, sharp, and distinctly of sheep, with a savory bite that can feel almost spicy. The texture is hard and grainy. A young piece within the style is already salty. An older piece is drier and more intense. It should smell clean and sheepy, not rancid and not like old wool left in the damp.

If a recipe tastes only of salt, the cheese may be the right one used with too heavy a hand. Taste a pinch before you add the usual Parmesan amount. If the cheese tastes flat and waxy, it may be a mild cow's-milk cheese sold under a confused label. Romano without sheep is not this cheese.

This is the cheese of Roman pasta: cacio e pepe, and very often carbonara and amatriciana. Grate it onto the pasta off the heat with a little cooking water so it turns creamy instead of clumping. In Rome it also goes over fava beans, artichokes, and other vegetables. A little finishes a bowl of greens.

Do not replace it one-for-one with Parmesan in cacio e pepe. The dish will lose its sharp sheep note and may taste timid. Do not use it as the only cheese on a delicate risotto that wanted the sweetness of Parmesan. You can mix the two. Many kitchens do. For a board, serve a small piece with honey or a raw fava bean. A large mild wedge of it will tire the palate, because the salt does not let you eat it like a young Gouda.

The protected cheese is Italian, from Lazio, Sardinia, and the allowed part of Tuscany. Cooks in Rome use it as an ordinary seasoning, not as a luxury saved for guests. Exported wedges and pre-grated tubs carry it into Italian restaurants everywhere.

The bare word pecorino only means sheep cheese. Italy has many. The bare word Romano is also used, especially in the United States, for a salty grating cheese that may or may not be sheep and may or may not be the protected wheel. Read for sheep's milk and for Pecorino Romano when the dish is Roman. A domestic romano can season a sauce. It will not reliably make cacio e pepe taste like the Roman plate.