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Cheese from Italy, Lazio

Pecorino di Amatrice

Sheep milk from free-grazing flocks is set with lamb rennet paste at 38 °C, raw from April to June and pasteurised with a thermophilic starter from September to March. The curd is broken to maize size, semi-cooked to 43–44 °C, moulded without pressing, warmed to 40–45 °C and salted in saturated brine. It ripens 6–12 months at 12 °C, washed again and again with vinegar and oil, which can turn the rind black.

Fully documentedCheese6 months – 12 monthsTraditional food product (PAT, Lazio)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheet fixes the process, not amounts. Forms weigh 2.0–3.0 kg.
Whole sheep milk from flocks grazing the Amatrice pastures[lazio-sheet]
Thermophilic starter (September to March only)[lazio-sheet]
Lamb rennet paste[lazio-sheet]
Salt (saturated brine)[lazio-sheet]
Vinegar and olive oil, for washing the rind[lazio-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starterthermophilic starter for pasteurised milk; none for raw spring milk

Total time across the recorded steps: 6 months – 12 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
up to 4 °C

What changes: Sheep milk from two milkings is filtered through cloth into the vat

Step 1 of 9
Collect and filter the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
up to 4 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Filtered through cloth and a strainer.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
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

At a glance

Sheep milk from free-grazing flocks is set with lamb rennet paste at 38 °C, raw from April to June and pasteurised with a thermophilic starter from September to March. The curd is broken to maize size, semi-cooked to 43–44 °C, moulded without pressing, warmed to 40–45 °C and salted in saturated brine. It ripens 6–12 months at 12 °C, washed again and again with vinegar and oil, which can turn the rind black. Made in 9 steps over 6 months – 12 months. The longest step, ripen and wash with vinegar and oil, takes 6–12 months (Regione Lazio) and runs at 12 °C (Regione Lazio).

Key numbers
Main step6–12 monthsReported[lazio-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen and wash with vinegar and oil
Temperature12 °CReported[lazio-sheet]Ripen and wash with vinegar and oil

What makes this one different

A semi-cooked hard pecorino that is warmed after moulding and ripened with repeated vinegar-and-oil washes. Raw spring milk is used without starter; autumn and winter milk is pasteurised and given a thermophilic starter.

Rind
Fairly thick, hard, oily; deep yellow or black from the oil and vinegar treatment
Size
Cylinder 2.0–3.0 kg, side 8–10 cm
Season
Raw-milk cheese April to June; pasteurised-milk cheese September to March

Related ferments

Safety

From September to March the milk is pasteurised at 70–72 °C for 15 seconds. Spring cheeses are raw-milk and ripen 6–12 months at 12 °C.

History and sources

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

Sheep cheeses have long been made in the area, from raw milk in the months of mountain grazing. Forms treated with olive oil and vinegar could age up to a year, when they suited spaghetti all'amatriciana. The ONAF sheet cites local oral tradition and town archives.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [lazio-sheet] Regione Lazio, analytical sheet of the traditional product 'Pecorino di Amatrice', copy hosted by ONAFgov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Pecorino di Amatrice'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Pecorino di Amatrice' (id 856)web