Pecorino cheese from Farindola PAT

It is an absolutely original pecorino, because it is prepared (unique case in Italy and perhaps in the world) using pork rennet, which gives it particular aroma and flavors. The processing with pig rennet has very ancient origins, the “Vestini cheese” made with pig rennet is already mentioned in Roman times.
In the past Farindola was a populous town, with a remarkable sheep heritage thanks to its very extensive public pastures. Its cheese was traded on the most important markets of Penne or Loreto Aprutino, where it was highly appreciated.
It is still produced today in very limited quantities in a small area of the eastern side of the Gran Sasso massif, largely within the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, and its production is the exclusive prerogative of women, who are handed down the recipe from generation to generation.
The milk is milked by hand from sheep raised in the wild for most of the year. The mass is obtained by curdling the milk heated to 35 ° C and breaking the curd into minute grains (the size of a grain of corn). It is then extracted from the boiler and placed in wicker baskets, which draw the typical streaks on the surface. After dry salting, which takes place within 48 hours, the wheels are left to mature in old wooden cabinets where they refine from a minimum of 40 days to over a year. The rind – periodically greased with a mixture of extra virgin olive oil and vinegar – over time becomes saffron or brownish in color and is streaked due to the rush baskets in which it is placed during the draining phase. The paste is grainy, straw yellow and slightly moist even when the cheese is very mature: thanks to the rennet and the production technique. The humidity gives it slightly musky aromas (mushroom, noble rot, dry wood) and, in the mouth, an extraordinary softness and a great balance between spicy sensations and a good taste of sheep’s milk.