The Mediterranean’s second-largest island is rugged and diverse. With more than 1,200 miles of coastline and an interior studded with mountains and untouched landscapes, Sardinia has long been celebrated for its beauty. As the home to nearly 45% of all the sheep raised in Italy, the Regione Autonoma della Sardegna is equally renowned for its dairy products, especially sheep milk or pecorino cheeses.
Sardinia’s climate is predictably Mediterranean, with most of the rainfall taking place between autumn and spring. Mild winters and warm summers create a favorable climate for dairy farmers to raise animals, and sheep are clearly the dominant animal Sardinia is home to over 4 million sheep, by far the most of any region in Italy. In fact, this island of 9,300 square miles has the highest density of animals per kilometer (averaging 135) in the world.
A substantial portion of Sardinia’s dairy production is industrialized, mainly factories producing wheels of cheese for export. At the end of the 19th century, Sardinia’s sizable dairy production began to grow in importance when factories in the western mainland region of Lazio started buying dairy for their use, a response to their own production insufficiency. This arrangement elevated Sardinia’s status and allowed more farmers to focus on animal husbandry instead of direct milk production.
Fortunately, there is still a strong presence of small, family-owned farms and cooperatives practicing sheep herding, an industry critical to their success, accounting for over 30% of the total income earned in rural areas. The main use of the milk they produce is for cheese making, although a small amount is consumed directly or used for other products such as yogurt.
Pecorino Romano PDO
Nearly half of all the sheep milk produced is used to make Pecorino Romano PDO, a hard cheese used for grating and cooking. By law, this popular cheese can only be made in Sardinia, Lazio, and a single Tuscan province, Grosseto. In 1996, Pecorino Romano was recognized as a protected designation of origin (PDO) cheese, particularly because of the piquant flavor caused by the use of lamb rennet paste when coagulating the milk. Its sharp flavor, crumbly texture, and sweet & salty personality make it a favorite for cooks across the globe. Of the 342,000 tons produced in 2017-2018, over half was shipped to the United States. Within Italy, the regions of Lazio and Puglia consume the most cheese.
Pecorino Sardo PDO
Pecorino Sardo is also an important cheese produced locally. Made with heat-treated milk, it is the second-most exported cheese after Pecorino Romano. This intense cheese is offered in two styles. Younger dolce wheels are aged for 20-60 days, and have a bright, lactic flavor, as well as heady aromas reminiscent of the animal. Older maturo wheels require at least four months of aging to qualify for PDO status. They have a grainier texture and a saltier, more piquant flavor. A raw-milk version called Fiore Sardo is produced by small farms and is made without the addition of any starter culture, instead using kid or lamb rennet paste.
Casu Marzu
Sardinia also boasts one of the world’s most unique (and some would say, disturbing) cheeses, Casu Marzu. Wheels begin their creation as other pecorino cheeses do, however at a specific point of development, the top rind of the cheese is partially removed. The eggs of the Piophila casei cheese fly are intentionally deposited into the paste of the cheese. Once hatched, the larvae eat through the interior. Their digestive process causes advanced fermentation in the cheese as the fats break down, making the texture extremely soft by the time it is ready to eat. In local culture, any wheels that have dead larvae are considered unsafe and are discarded. Wheels with live larvae are sliced up and consumed plainly or in sandwiches and other dishes. A delicacy perhaps? One that you can only find on the island as it is considered illegal in the rest of Italy and beyond.
Because so much milk is produced on Sardinia, other industrial cheeses are created for export, notably Caciotta, Bonassai, Canestrato, and local versions of freshly-ripened whey cheeses they refer to as ricotta.