Cheese Database

Casciotta d'Urbino vs Pecorino Toscano

Casciotta d'Urbino

Facts

Milk
Mixed milk
Texture
Semi-soft
Type
Pressed
Rind
Natural rind
Country
Italy
Place
Marche
Status
PDO

Casciotta d'Urbino is a young semi-soft cheese from Italy, and the name is protected. Makers blend whole sheep's milk with a smaller share of cow's milk, so the milk is mixed rather than from one animal alone. The wheels are low and round, with a thin straw-colored rind and a soft, crumbly paste. The taste is sweet, milky, and lightly tangy, with a nutty hint. It is a table cheese, not a hard grating cheese.

Pecorino Toscano

Facts

Milk
Sheep
Texture
Semi-hard
Type
Pressed
Rind
Natural rind
Country
Italy
Place
Tuscany
Status
PDO

Pecorino Toscano is a sheep's milk cheese from Tuscany, and the name is protected. Pecorino means a cheese made from sheep's milk, and Toscano places the style in Tuscany, with some making in nearby parts of central Italy. The wheels can be sold young and tender or older and firm. A young cheese is mild and good in slices on a board. An older cheese is drier and saltier, and it is the one to choose when you need to grate.