Fun fact!
97% of Pecorino Romano is made in Sardegna
The DOP, established in 1981, immediately had as its headquarters Sardinia, Nuoro specifically, the main center of the area where the Pecorino Romano "isolano" was produced in the beginning. It is called "Romano", but it is produced almost exclusively in Sardinia. We are talking about the most famous pecorino in the world, the fourth best-selling Italian cheese in the world: Pecorino Romano DOP.
The name is due consistently to its origins. This cheese was produced mainly in Lazio and was perhaps the most famous dairy product at the time of the ancient Romans. The historian Columella (I century AD) speaks of it in his treatise "De Rustica".
This cheese with thousands of years behind it for more than a century is also made in Sardinia and for some decades the island production has practically supplanted the peninsular one. The original reason for this fact dates back to the nineteenth century and is rather curious.
Precisely in the era of its greatest expansion and its great success, the Romano becomes difficult to produce in Rome and its surroundings. In 1884 the Capitoline mayor forbade the "pizzicaroli" to carry out salting within the city walls. So the cheesemakers begin to organize themselves in the suburbs and in the countryside, where the first "modern" dairies were born. These limitations and the growth in demand lead to the need for new territories in which to develop production. And where if not in Sardinia, a land of great agro-pastoral traditions?
Thus began the adventure of Pecorino Romano on the island with the union of the great professionalism of Sardinian shepherds and cheesemakers and the millennial history of this product. It was then after World War II that Sardinia took almost all the "slice" of the cake, reaching today's 97%. The DOP, established in 1981, immediately had Sardinia as its headquarters, Nuoro specifically, the main center of the area where on the "island" Pecorino Romano was produced in the beginning.
Pecorino Romano DOP has won: the cheeses produced in Lazio can no longer be marketed under the name "cacio romano". The sentence was published by the Court of Companies of the Capital: the similarities between the two products, according to the judges, are in fact too many not to confuse consumers, all to the disadvantage of the most famous Pecorino Romano DOP, one of the excellences of the agri-food of Sardinia, whose market is 70% foreign.
But the Lazio court has not limited itself only to prohibiting the sale of cheeses labeled as "cacio romano". It also imposed the withdrawal from the market and destruction of products deemed illegal, as well as the obligation to publish the judgment on the pages of two newspapers.
The verdict was welcomed with understandable satisfaction by the Consortium for the protection of Pecorino Romano DOP, winner of an apparently unequal legal clash that saw it (with Lergacoop and Cia), prevail over a wide front of companies and trade associations led by the Lazio Region. "For the first time our brand has been recognized as a universal brand to be protected" comments the number one of the Consortium for the protection of Pecorino Romano DOP Salvatore Pallitta "consequently rejecting the registration of any label that could be confused on the market".
The battle between "cacio" and Pecorino Romano DOP had been dragging on for years. The first topic of contention was that of production. "97% of Pecorino Romano DOP is produced in Sardinia – comments Atzori regional president of Legacoop – and only a small part comes from authorized dairies in Lazio and Tuscany. An imbalance on which breeders and processors wanted to trigger an attempt to secede from Sardinia, with the creation of a new protected designation of origin".
Source: L'Unione Sarda
Pecorino Romano DOP has a smooth rind and is salty to the flavor, (even spicy as the maturation proceeds) so this cheese is defined as long-seasoning. On the other hand, pecorino has a slightly straw-yellow white paste, it is also a very appreciated cheese for its typical strongly aromatic, spicy, intense and salty taste, given by dry salting and the maturation period.
The DOP, established in 1981, immediately had as its headquarters Sardinia, Nuoro specifically, the main center of the area where the Pecorino Romano "isolano" was produced in the beginning. It is called "Romano", but it is produced almost exclusively in Sardinia. We are talking about the most famous pecorino in the world, the fourth best-selling Italian cheese in the world: Pecorino Romano DOP.
The name is due consistently to its origins. This cheese was produced mainly in Lazio and was perhaps the most famous dairy product at the time of the ancient Romans. The historian Columella (I century AD) speaks of it in his treatise "De Rustica".
This cheese with thousands of years behind it for more than a century is also made in Sardinia and for some decades the island production has practically supplanted the peninsular one. The original reason for this fact dates back to the nineteenth century and is rather curious.
Precisely in the era of its greatest expansion and its great success, the Romano becomes difficult to produce in Rome and its surroundings. In 1884 the Capitoline mayor forbade the "pizzicaroli" to carry out salting within the city walls. So the cheesemakers begin to organize themselves in the suburbs and in the countryside, where the first "modern" dairies were born. These limitations and the growth in demand lead to the need for new territories in which to develop production. And where if not in Sardinia, a land of great agro-pastoral traditions?
Thus began the adventure of Pecorino Romano on the island with the union of the great professionalism of Sardinian shepherds and cheesemakers and the millennial history of this product. It was then after World War II that Sardinia took almost all the "slice" of the cake, reaching today's 97%. The DOP, established in 1981, immediately had Sardinia as its headquarters, Nuoro specifically, the main center of the area where on the "island" Pecorino Romano was produced in the beginning.
Pecorino Romano DOP has won: the cheeses produced in Lazio can no longer be marketed under the name "cacio romano". The sentence was published by the Court of Companies of the Capital: the similarities between the two products, according to the judges, are in fact too many not to confuse consumers, all to the disadvantage of the most famous Pecorino Romano DOP, one of the excellences of the agri-food of Sardinia, whose market is 70% foreign.
But the Lazio court has not limited itself only to prohibiting the sale of cheeses labeled as "cacio romano". It also imposed the withdrawal from the market and destruction of products deemed illegal, as well as the obligation to publish the judgment on the pages of two newspapers.
The verdict was welcomed with understandable satisfaction by the Consortium for the protection of Pecorino Romano DOP, winner of an apparently unequal legal clash that saw it (with Lergacoop and Cia), prevail over a wide front of companies and trade associations led by the Lazio Region. "For the first time our brand has been recognized as a universal brand to be protected" comments the number one of the Consortium for the protection of Pecorino Romano DOP Salvatore Pallitta "consequently rejecting the registration of any label that could be confused on the market".
The battle between "cacio" and Pecorino Romano DOP had been dragging on for years. The first topic of contention was that of production. "97% of Pecorino Romano DOP is produced in Sardinia – comments Atzori regional president of Legacoop – and only a small part comes from authorized dairies in Lazio and Tuscany. An imbalance on which breeders and processors wanted to trigger an attempt to secede from Sardinia, with the creation of a new protected designation of origin".
Source: L'Unione Sarda
Pecorino Romano DOP has a smooth rind and is salty to the flavor, (even spicy as the maturation proceeds) so this cheese is defined as long-seasoning. On the other hand, pecorino has a slightly straw-yellow white paste, it is also a very appreciated cheese for its typical strongly aromatic, spicy, intense and salty taste, given by dry salting and the maturation period.
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