Pecorino toscano
Pecorino toscano is a firm sheep milk cheese from Tuscany. Since 1996 it has enjoyed protected designation of origin status.
History
Pliny the Elder, in his major encyclopaedic work Naturalis Historia, describes several stages in the production of pecorino toscano, which he names as Lunense, apparently after the territory of Lunigiana. Other early names of the cheese include marzolino, after the month of March in which production traditionally began.In 1475 the writer Bartolomeo Platina said that the Etruscan marzolino was as good as Parmesan cheese: "In Italy there are two types of cheese that compete for the first place: marzolino, so called by the Etruscans because it is made in Etruria in March, and Parmesan cheese, from the Cisalpine region, that is also known as maggengo, because it is produced in May."
Today, this style of pecorino is widely produced across Tuscany and also in several nearer districts of Umbria and Lazio regions.