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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Emilia-Romagna

Pecorino del pastore (Romagna)

Whole ewe milk, sometimes with a selected lactic culture, is warmed to about 35 °C and set with calf rennet. The curd is broken to rice-grain or hazelnut size, ladled by hand into baskets, dry-salted and ripened from two weeks to eight months. The rind is often rubbed with olive oil or tomato paste. Made in 5 steps over 15 days – 8 months. The longest step, ripen in a farmhouse room, takes 15 days – 8 months (Regione Emilia-Romagna 2025). Lactic acid bacteria of the raw milk and Selected lactic cultures, when used do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step15 days – 8 monthsSet[er-pastore][onaf-pastore]Ripen in a farmhouse room
Temperature35 °CSet[er-pastore][onaf-pastore]Warm the milk and add rennet
Fully documentedCheese15 days – 8 monthsPAT (traditional food product, Emilia-Romagna)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)More hard sheep and goat cheesesMore from Italy

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give a temperature and times but no amounts. A cheese weighs about 1.5 kg (1.5–3 kg per ONAF).
Whole ewe milk · Raw in the regional sheet; ONAF also allows pasteurised; mostly from Sarda ewes[er-pastore][onaf-pastore]
Selected lactic cultures (optional)[er-pastore][onaf-pastore]
Calf rennet, liquid or powder[er-pastore][onaf-pastore]
Salt · Dry salt; ONAF also allows brine[er-pastore][onaf-pastore]
Olive oil or tomato paste (optional) · To protect the rind[er-pastore][onaf-pastore]
Starter: none, or selected lactic cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 15 days – 8 months

Start
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35 °Cshapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: Calf rennet goes into whole ewe milk at about 35 °C and it sets

Step 1 of 5
Warm the milk and add rennet
Time
Not documented
Temperature
35 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: curd.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
gel
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

It is a mild, sweet pecorino for the table, set at a low 35 °C with calf rennet rather than lamb paste. Its rind is often protected with olive oil or tomato paste.

Milk
Whole ewe milk, mostly Sarda breed; made April to October
Ripening
At least 15 days, up to 6–8 months
Rind
Thin, smooth when young, wrinkled and brown with age; often oiled or rubbed with tomato paste
Size
About 1.5 kg (regional sheet); 1.5–3.5 kg, ø 12–25 cm, side 12–14 cm (ONAF)

Related ferments

Safety

The milk may be raw. In a challenge study, E. coli O157 added to raw ewe milk was still detectable in pecorino after 90 days of ripening, so clean milk matters.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli O157 in raw ewe milk; in a challenge study it was still detectable in pecorino after 90 days of ripening.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Ewe cheese has been made in the Romagna hills since at least the 16th century. Sheep farming shrank until the 1950s, when shepherds from Sardinia settled in the area and revived it. Flocks spend winter on the plain, often towards the Adriatic coast.

  1. [er-pastore] Regione Emilia-Romagna, Agricoltura, caccia e pesca, Prodotti tradizionali, Formaggi, 'Pecorino del Pastore' (updated 19 December 2025)gov
  2. [onaf-pastore] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Pecorino del pastore', PAT Regione Emilia-Romagnaweb
  3. [centorotola2021] Centorotola G., Sperandii A.F., Tucci P. et al. 2021, Survival rate of Escherichia coli O157 in artificially contaminated raw and thermized ewe milk in different Pecorino cheese production processes, International Journal of Food Microbiology 347:109175, doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2021.109175 (abstract)paper