Pecorino a latte crudo abbucciato

Medium-aged or very mature, the Abbucciato is the "cacio" of the land of Arezzo. The "Abbucciato Aretino" Consortium was set up to protect and promote raw milk pecorino, a true return to the dairy traditions of this area. The origins of this cheese are ancient: as early as the 11th century, Camaldolese texts reported its use by the monks of the Casentino hermitage. The name comes from this cheese having a well-formed rind already after twenty days of aging.

Processing is based on the use of raw milk; the cheese ripens on fir boards for a couple of days after which it is placed in a cell at 12° for aging. Here it is turned over twice a day and brushed every three days: it can be sold after at least 30 days of aging if fresh, and after 60 days if aged.

The weight varies from 800 grams to 1.5 kilogram. The rind is clean and the flesh - whose color, depending on the aging period, changes from milky white to straw yellow - has a rather pronounced thick and dry rind and shows the typical irregular pouches of raw-milk processing.

Thanks to the non-pasteurization of the milk, the cheese retains its original organoleptic qualities and thus the scent of pasture grass. In the mouth, the texture is soft, supple and soluble: there is a pleasant sweet sensation on the palate that is eventually enveloped by a pleasant bitter and tingling taste. The retronasal sensations are those of milk and dry leaf.