Think On It

Pecorino of Sardinia — a new one for me

October 8th, 2007

Some time back, I decided that the Pecorino from Sardinia was the best I’d ever tasted. I use quite a lot of it and I recommend it to anyone who likes cheese. And then when I was in Florence with eg, I happened upon a Sardinian restaurant called “Terra Terra.” What food we had! It may just have been our luck in choosing blindly, but there was one dish I am trying to copy and I hope before winter is over I’ll have it done, but you never know. Remember the broccoli pasta! I’ve searched the internet for a recipe, but there just isn’t one and it must be their own creation.

To get to the cheesy point, two of the dishes had a mystical smoky tone and I asked the manager what was up with that. She introduced me to smoked Sardinian pecorino. When eg returned to Washington she arranged to order it. I have to go into my cheese shop and plead on bended knee. Hey, I deserve some love for having introduced grana di bufala to so many people.

Here’s what the Sardinian foods website has to say about it:

Sardinia’s delicately flavoured sheep’s cheese Pecorino is now exported all over the world. Authentic Pecorino is made without any anomalous ingredients such as cow’s milk (instead of sheep’s milk). The most famed Sardinian cheese is smoked, spicy and sharp Fiore Sardo, which is aged over a long period.

Another English language site says:

FIORE SARDO DOP
Fiore Sardo is a cheese of very ancient origins that predates the Roman conquest of Sardinia. Fiore Sardo is older than Pecorino Romano and is mentioned by, among others, Father Francesco Gemelli and La Marmora. Fiore Sardo enjoyed great popularity in the nineteenth century when it was the only cheese to be exported from the island. It was particularly sought after by merchants in Naples, Leghorn and especially Genoa, where it was used in the preparation of pesto. Pecorino Fiore Sardo is made using ancient and special artisan techniques. It is an uncooked hard cheese made from fresh whole sheep’s milk curdled using lamb or kid rennet. The mixture is poured into moulds that will give the cheese its characteristic shape. After a brief period in brine, the moulds are lightly smoked and left to ripen in cool cellars in central Sardinia. The average weight of the finished product is 3.5 kilos: sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less depending on the conditions of manufacture. The rind varies from deep yellow to dark brown in colour and encases a paste that varies from white to straw-yellow. The sharpness of the flavour depends on the length of maturation. Pecorino Fiore Sardo is a genuine product and becomes a superb table cheese after only a few months of ageing. If aged for more than six months, it becomes an excellent grating cheese. The ratio of fat to dry substance is at least 40 per cent. The area of manufacture encompasses the entire island of Sardinia.

So why did it take me so long to find it? Just unlucky, I guess. See who sells it near you. Fiore Sardo means Sardinian flower and you’d have to a romantic thing like that, wouldn’t you? Clicking on those blue quotes will take you to the pages they come from.

Entry Filed under: Food, Italy, kitchen stuff, cheese, vegetarian, Italian food, cucina

7 Comments Add your own

1. Mary | October 9th, 2007 at 11:05 am

Yummm. I love Pecorino Sardo, but I\’ve never seen the smoked variety. I\’m going to have to look for it now.
2. Laurie | October 9th, 2007 at 11:09 am

YUM. The best. We discovered it down the street at our favorite little tiny mom and pop store - (actually it’s a son and pop store!) there are quite a lot of sardi in our neighborhood, so a lot of products available. I think this is the best pecorino anywhere!
3. admin | October 9th, 2007 at 2:18 pm

Ahhh, a fellow adherent, and another seeker after goodness. I found it unlike any smoked cheese ever. I’m generally not that fond of smoked cheese, but once I give up smoking, it could alter.
4. Kango Caramel | October 10th, 2007 at 1:36 am

For my money you can’t beat a good chunk of smoked cheese; I think I’ll have to stop on the way home a pick up a chunk at whole foods.
5. David | October 10th, 2007 at 4:59 am

You cannot blame yourself. It seems like every nook and cranny in Italy has something unique. I found a white wine made in the hills behind where I live in San Paolo d\’Argon after 5 years that I lived there…
6. Jessica | October 10th, 2007 at 3:09 pm

so you mean to say that we did not ACTUALLY have the best cheese in italy after all?? ;)
7. Robert | October 10th, 2007 at 11:31 pm

I love Pecorino! We normally have the Abruzzesi produced Pecorino when in Italy - fantastic as a starter just by itself and common enough at the working mens restaurants in Abruzzo.

I have never heard of a smoked Pecorino and would be keen to try this as I enjoy most smoked cheeses (including the ubiquitos and squeaky scamorza).