Cheese Database

Pecorino Siciliano vs Vastedda

Pecorino Siciliano

Facts

Milk
Sheep
Texture
Hard
Type
Pressed
Rind
Natural rind
Country
Italy
Place
Sicily
Status
PDO

Pecorino Siciliano is a hard sheep's milk cheese from Sicily in Italy. The name joins the Italian word for sheep with the island where the cheese is made. Whole sheep's milk is set, pressed in baskets, salted, and kept until the paste is compact. The name is protected, so a wheel sold under it follows that Sicilian tradition. It is a grating and table cheese, not a fresh curd.

Vastedda

Facts

Country
Italy

Vastedda is a traditional round bread from Italy, best known in Sicily. The loaf has no hole in the middle, and the crumb is soft enough to hold a rich filling. Street cooks split it for a sandwich of fried veal spleen, often with sliced cheese or a spoon of fresh ricotta. The same word is also used for Sicilian cheeses, which is why it appears in a cheese list. The bread and the cheeses are different foods that share a name.