A hand rests on a wheel of aged cheese on a wooden bench; behind it stone shelves are loaded with wheels at different stages of ageing.

Food and wine

Cheese

Cheese is born from the meeting of two simple things: milk and rennet. Yet from that meeting come thousands of different cheeses around the world, each with its own history, its own animal breed, its own climate, its own unique bacterial microflora. In Tuscany cheese means above all pecorino (sheep's milk cheese) — the sheep has adapted to the hill country and the Mediterranean pastures, and ewe's milk has given this region a galaxy of cheeses that vary from province to province, from dairyman to dairyman, from season to season.

A flock of sheep grazes a dry golden slope beyond a drystone wall; a stone farmhouse stands among oaks with hills to the horizon.

Where

Where it is practised in Tuscany

The geographies are clear-cut. Pienza (Siena) is the capital of pecorino toscano: Pecorino di Pienza is made on the pastures of the Val d'Orcia. The Maremma (Grosseto) has wide pastures and produces a pecorino with character, often given long maturation. The Garfagnana (Lucca) makes a mountain pecorino with a robust flavour. The Lunigiana (Massa-Carrara) has lesser traditions but lives on pecorino and goat's cheese. The Val di Chiana (Arezzo and Siena) has mild pecorini of farming tradition. The DOP Pecorino Toscano covers the certified regional productions, both fresh (short maturation) and matured (at least 4 months).

On the table: a wooden cheese hoop, a folded cloth, an aged wheel, a wire curd harp, a ladle, coarse salt, a brush and a dial thermometer.

How

The techniques of the craft

The techniques of the craft are codified but leave room for personal interpretation. The milk — from sheep, goat, cow, buffalo, or blends — is the raw material and defines much of the final result. Coagulation happens by adding rennet (animal, vegetable or microbial) to warm milk: in 30-60 minutes the milk sets. Cutting the curd defines the type of cheese: a coarse cut for soft cheeses, a fine one for hard-paste cheeses. Cooking the curd — heating it progressively — expels the whey and gives cheeses that can be matured longer. Salting is done by immersion in brine or by dry rubbing. Maturation requires precise conditions and times ranging from weeks (fresh cheeses) to years (grating cheeses). The mould blooms — Penicillium on the rinds, yeasts and lactic bacteria in the paste — give matured cheeses their character. Maturation in a pit, in a cave, in leaves and under ash are traditional techniques that produce cheeses of unique character.

In a vaulted stone room a cheesemaker in an apron turns the wheels on wooden shelves; a wheel, a brush and a cloth lie on the table.

Now

The craft today

Doing it today means moving between very different markets. Industrial Tuscan pecorino is made in large dairies and has a mass market, worldwide export and accessible prices. Fine artisan pecorino — made with milk from the maker's own flock or from close by — lives on a knowledgeable clientele, direct sales, weekly markets and niche export. The difficulties of the sector are the decline of shepherding (fewer and fewer young people choose that life), competition from industrial cheeses, and health-regulation pressure on raw-milk cheeses (paradoxically the ones with the greatest organoleptic quality). The finest businesses hold together dairy tradition, direct management of the flock and direct selling.