Red Pecorino
Product included in the national list of traditional agri-food products (PAT)
PAT Type : Cheeses
Production Area : Sicilian territory
Description:
Fat cheese, with long maturation, hard paste. The rind is hard, ivory or straw yellow in color, which takes on a red color after 2 months, following capping with oil and tomato. The paste is hard, compact, quite elastic in the product of short maturation, white or straw yellow in color. The name derives from the particular and unique characteristic of the red pecorino that it is rubbed during maturation, as well as with the olive oil, also with the tomato sauce, which gives it the typical red color. The treatment is done by hand, starting to spread the wheels when the cheese is about two months old and its paste is still tender and fresh. The mixture of oil and tomato sauce, which is spread, creates a protective layer on the skin, which in any case allows the cheese to 'breathe' for the duration of the aging. This procedure implies that the minimum seasoning is the average one (second salt) and excludes the tume and primisals.
Footnotes:
In Italy other cheeses are called with the same name both in Tuscany and in Sardinia. Unlike the Sicilian red pecorino which owes its name to the seasoning made with tomato sauce, these other cheeses are simply pecorino, to which saffron or chilli is added during production.
Technical data sheet of the traditional agri-food product (PAT)
Production area: Sicilian territory
Brief product description: Full-fat, long-aged, hard cheese. Cylindrical shape with flat sides, 18–35 cm in diameter, slightly convex sides, 10–18 cm high. Weight: 4–12 kg.
Processing Method: Milk from one or two milkings is heated to 34-35°C (93-95°F) and added with lamb or goat rennet paste. The rennet-rich curd is broken with a "rotula," a wooden tool about the size of a lentil. After resting in whey, the curd is removed and placed in baskets. Chili pepper may be added. The cheeses are pressed by hand and then immersed in scald at 85°C (185°F) for four months. Dry salting is used, with the rind being soaked in brine.
Source Pat Cards: Sicily Region
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Informational contributions : Web, Sicily Region
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