Pecorino Toscano PDO

Pecorino Toscano has been an Italian PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) cheese since 1996. Its unique and delicate flavour stems from the perfect balance between nature, the environment and long-standing dairy tradition.

A centuries-old history of goodness.  Pecorino Toscano has its roots in past centuries and animal husbandry, one of the main activities of the Etruscans and the Romans. Pliny the Elder was the first to write about this ‘cacio’, as it was originally called, and is still called in Tuscany, in his “Naturalis Historia“. In it he reported that a fine cheese known as Lunense, appreciated for its goodness and size, came to Rome from Luni, a city of Etruscan origin, modern Lunigiana. There is mention of Pecorino Toscano in 1400 when it was known as “cacio marzolino”. According to historical sources this cheese was very popular at banquets of the nobility and was one of Lorenzo the Magnificent’s favourites. In the fifteenth century, “Marzolino of Etruria” was hailed as the best cheese in Italy in a text by Bartolomeo Platina, on an equal footing with “parmesan”.

Pecorino Toscano PDO and the link with its land of origin. Today, as in the past, Pecorino Toscano is characteristic of Tuscany’s dairy tradition and its area of origin (Tuscany and a few neighbouring municipalities in Lazio and Umbria). It is here that the milk is produced, transformed into cheese and left to ripen. Its unique, delicate flavour reflects an ancient and continuing story from the Etruscans to the present day, always synonymous with quality and very closely linked with the area.