Aged sheep's pecorino from Amatrice with nutty sweetness and an elegant flinty paste.
Aged sheep's milk pecorino from Amatrice in Lazio, Italy. Nutty, sweet, flinty paste with a golden natural rind. Shave it, grate it, or board it.
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From the town of Amatrice, up in the Apennines of Lazio, this is an aged sheep's milk pecorino from the same mountain village that gave the world amatriciana. All sheep's milk, hard paste, natural golden rind that's been left to breathe and dry.
Cut into it and you get that flinty, close-grained break, the paste dry enough to shave but still with a little give. The flavor leans nutty and sweet rather than sharp, toasted hazelnut and browned butter through the middle, a soft pastoral note from the mountain grass, and just a whisper of pepper at the back. Not the aggressive salty bite of a Pecorino Romano, more the elegant, slightly sweet side of the aged sheep family.
Right in the sweet spot for grating over a bowl of hot pasta, but good enough to sit on the board on its own with a little honey.
Hard and dense, breaks into flinty shards under the knife with a dry, close-grained paste that holds its shape when shaved.
A pronounced aged sheep character, nutty and savory up front with a gentle sweetness that keeps it from tipping into sharpness.
Long, sweet-savory finish, the browned-butter and sheep-milk notes stick around for a solid 20 to 30 seconds after the bite.
Most of the fresh milk has dried out with age, just a whisper of buttery cream underneath the nuttiness.
Toasted hazelnut and browned butter run through the paste, classic aged pecorino territory pulled a little sweeter than the Roman styles.
A soft grassy pastoral note from the Apennine pasture, but the paste stays clean rather than turning barnyardy.
A mild peppery lift at the very back of the palate, more warm than piquant, this is not a Pecorino Romano bite.
Natural rind
Hard golden natural rind, not typically eaten, contributes a faint toasted-grain and lanolin aroma that supports the paste.
Pecorino stands on its own, but the right partners turn a wedge into a moment. Regional pairings first — they were built for each other.
Local Lazio and central Italian reds have the acidity to cut through the fat and the fruit to echo the sweet nutty finish, while a Vin Santo plays into that dessert-course sweetness.
The sweet nuttiness begs for honey and ripe autumn fruit, and a darker honey like chestnut brings out the aged sheep character without covering it.
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Hand-cut to order the day it ships. Packed cold for overnight delivery.
Taste it for yourself →Cold-ship 2-day overnight nationwide
