Pecorino Crotonese PDO

Pecorino Crotonese PDO is a hard and semi-cooked cheese that is obtained exclusively with whole sheep's milk.

The production and maturing area of ​​Pecorino Crotonese DOP (Crotonese Pecorino cheese PDO) includes numerous municipalities in the Provinces of Crotone, Catanzaro and Cosenza.

The flocks of sheep from which the milk is obtained, graze from September to June. To produce the product, the milk is mixed with kid rennet in paste and then cooked; the result is transferred into the typical basket shapes and pressed manually. The salting of the forms is carried out both dry and in brine. The maturation takes place in fresh and weakly ventilated rooms or in sandstone caves and lasts between 60 days and 90 days for the semi-hard product, while it lasts over 90 days for the seasoned product.

There are four types of Pecorino Crotonese cheese: the Fresco (Fresh) with a soft, compact and sometimes creamy texture; Semiduro (Semi-hard) with a compact and semi-hard texture; Seasoned (Stagionato) with thick crust and hard, compact texture; the Da Grattugia (Grater) one.