Fresh Slow Food Pistoia Mountain Pecorino

Raw Milk – Massese Breed – Aged 7-20 Days

The rare cheese that preserves a hundred years of Tuscan pastoral tradition

Fresh Pecorino from the Pistoia MountainsVerdetti Catia Agricultural Company

Slow Food Fresh Pistoia Mountain Pecorino is an extraordinary and almost impossible-to-find cheese that represents the last living testament to a centuries-old cheesemaking tradition in the Tuscan mountains. This pecorino is made exclusively with raw milk from Massese sheep—Tuscany's only native sheep breed, recognizable by its lead-gray fleece, glossy black hair, dark spiral horns, and bright, bulging eyes. Raised on the mountain pastures of the Pistoia area by families of shepherds and cheesemakers, who have maintained the methods, recipes, and philosophy of making cheese according to nature, without industrial shortcuts, for generations.

Production strictly follows the Slow Food Presidium regulations that protect this rare cheese: raw milk (never pasteurized, an absolute rarity in the modern Tuscan dairy scene where pasteurization has become the norm), natural rennet, a total absence of additives or industrially selected starter cultures (if necessary, only self-produced starter cultures such as milk starter, whey starter, or scotta starter are used to preserve the invisible microbial biodiversity of the area), the sheep are fed only self-produced forage (fresh grass from mountain pastures in the summer, hay, corn, bran, and oats in the winter), milking is often still done by hand, and the cheese is artisanally produced in small batches.

Pecorino Fresco is aged for a very short time, just 7 to 20 days, just long enough for it to develop a minimal structure and allow the formation of its thin yet characteristic rind. The cheese is round, weighing approximately 1-1,5 kg. The rind is smooth and pale straw yellow in color, while the interior is ivory-white, compact yet soft, with fine, evenly distributed eyes. On the nose, a dominant milky note emerges, fresh and clean, with delicate hints of green grass from mountain pastures, hay, and freshly milked milk. On the palate, it is sweet, mellow, creamy, with a delicate flavor, its texture slowly melting on the tongue, releasing pure milky aromas and a surprising finish vaguely reminiscent of the bitter honey of mountain flowers. A cheese that is concentrated milk, the essence of pasture, a testament to the land and unique sheep breed, a sensory experience far removed from standardized industrial pecorino cheeses.

Availability is extremely limited: only a few pieces produced by about fifteen artisanal producers scattered across the Pistoia mountains and united in the Consorzio Montagne e Valli di Pistoia. This highly sought-after, almost impossible-to-find cheese represents a piece of Tuscan intangible cultural heritage at risk of extinction, which the Slow Food Presidium and courageous producers like young Rachele Petrucci (who at 21 chose to work alongside her grandmother Catia Verdetti, continuing the family tradition) are tenaciously preserving.
 
 
 

The roots of Pecorino Pistoiese are deep in the pastoral civilization of the Apennines

The sheep dairy tradition in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines dates back over a thousand years, when communities of transhumant shepherds moved their flocks between high-altitude summer pastures and winter valleys, producing cheese as the primary means of preserving the abundant milk produced by grazing sheep. Over the centuries, the shepherd-cheesemaking families of the Pistoia mountains developed a sheep breed perfectly adapted to the harsh mountain terrain: the Massese, hardy, resilient, capable of exploiting poor pastures and producing exceptionally high-quality milk, rich in fat and protein, ideal for cheesemaking.

The production of raw milk pecorino using time-honored methods—without pasteurization, additives, or industrial standardization—remained the norm until the mid-20th century, when dairy "modernization" imposed mandatory pasteurization, selected starter cultures, various additives, and streamlined production. Most producers adapted, but a few stubborn families in the Pistoia mountains refused to change, sticking to the traditional recipe and raw milk despite bureaucratic and commercial obstacles. Today, these die-hard producers represent the last living testament to a cheesemaking expertise that has been lost elsewhere.

Recognition as a Slow Food Presidium in 2000 marked a turning point: from a marginal product destined for oblivion to a gastronomic heritage protected, enhanced, and promoted. The Presidium protects not only the cheese but the entire system: the native sheep breed, the mountain pastures, the families who have chosen to stay or return to the mountains to resist depopulation, the microbial biodiversity of native yeasts, and the pastoral cultural landscape. Saving Pecorino Pistoiese means saving a world.
 
 
 

Choosing fresh raw milk Pecorino means biodiversity and true flavour

Raw milk cheese produced artisanally with milk from pasture-raised animals offers an immensely superior organoleptic and nutritional profile to industrially pasteurized cheeses: living microbial biodiversity (hundreds of bacterial and fungal strains native to the area that contribute to the development of unique and unrepeatable complex aromas), natural milk enzymes that facilitate digestion and maturation, beneficial fatty acids (CLA – conjugated linoleic acid, omega-3) concentrated in the milk of pasture-raised animals that feed on fresh grasses rather than industrial feed, abundant fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K), bioavailable calcium, and extremely high-quality proteins.

The aromatic profile is layered and complex, a faithful expression of the terroir (specific mountain pastures, seasonality, sheep breed, and the cheesemaker's hands)—characteristics that pasteurization destroys, homogenizing and impoverishing. The texture is lively, creamy yet structured, never rubbery or plasticky like processed cheeses with added additives. A true, living food that deeply nourishes the body and senses.

Like all artisanal raw-milk cheeses, Pecorino Pistoiese carries a natural variability: each wheel is slightly different, reflecting the production season (spring-summer with fresh pasture vs. autumn-winter with hay), the weather conditions, and the sheep's productive stage. This variability isn't a flaw, but rather a richness, a testament to its authenticity and profound connection to natural cycles.
 
 
 

How to Best Use: Fresh Pistoia Mountain Pecorino Cheese

• PURE TASTING AND TRADITIONAL CUTTING BOARDS
  Bring the Fresh Pecorino to room temperature (18-20°C) at least 30 minutes before serving to enhance its aromas and creaminess. Cut into slices or wedges and enjoy with Organic rye bread in a loaf. Accompany with pears mature, Chestnut honey mountain, Organic Sorrento walnuts fresh. Pair with Tuscan white wines structured or rosé.
• TRADITIONAL TUSCAN FOOD PAIRINGS
  Serve with polenta prepared with Bramata corn flour (coarse grain)  (classic mountain pairing), boiled potatoes seasoned simply. It goes well with necci (chestnut flour fritters cooked on the testi), chestnuts Roasted. Use in salads with rocket salad, round red radicchio, Organic pecans
• USE IN DELICATE COOKING
  Grate or crumble on Easter simple, risottos, soups vegetableUse in omelettes, savory pies, and focaccia. Avoid over-cooking, which would alter its delicacy. Perfect simply melted on vegetables grills.

The Producer: Verdetti Catia Agricultural Company

The Verdetti Catia Farm in San Marcello Piteglio (PT) is the custodian of the Pistoia mountain cheesemaking tradition, raising approximately 140 Massese sheep on the pastures of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and producing Pecorino della Montagna Pistoiese (Slow Food Presidium) using unchanged centuries-old methods. Led by the young Rachele Petrucci, who at 21 years old courageously chose to join her grandmother Catia in managing the company, continuing a family pastoral tradition that was at risk of extinction, the farm produces raw milk cheese without additives or selected starter cultures, cultivates ancient grains (soft wheat, Senatore Cappelli, Gentil Rosso, Marzolo, and spelt), and represents a virtuous model of sustainable mountain agriculture that preserves biodiversity, landscape, and culture. Each wheel of pecorino is a testament to endurance, passion, and the unconventional choice to remain in the mountains, practicing authentic farming.
 
 
 

Ingredients

Raw Massese sheep's milk, salt, natural rennet. Homemade starter cultures may be used (milk starter, whey starter, or scotta starter). No additives, preservatives, or industrially selected starter cultures.
 
 
 
Product Features

• Name: Fresh Pecorino della Montagna Pistoiese
• Recognition: Slow Food Presidium
• Milk: Raw sheep's milk from the native Tuscan Massese breed
• Maturing: 7-20 days (fresh)
• Whole shape: Round, weight approximately 1-1,5 kg
• Crust: Smooth, straw yellow
• Pasta: Ivory white, compact, fine uniform eyes
• Taste: Sweet, mellow, milky notes, bitter honey finish
• Availability: Very limited – only a few pieces left

Allergens

Contains sheep's milk and milk derivatives.
 
 
 

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