When Odysseus and his crew stumbled onto the island of Sicily, they came across the cave of Polyphemus, a one-eyed giant shepherd who happened to be the son of the god Poseidon. Astonished, they walked into a cave filled with racks loaded with drying cheeses; buckets, pails, and milking bowls brimming full of whey; and pens crowded with lambs and kids. After lighting a fire and offering a sacrifice, the Greek warriors helped themselves to the shepherd’s cheese. When Polyphemus returned with his flocks, he sat down, milked his sheep and goats, curdled half of the fresh white milk, and then set aside the whey in wicker racks to press for cheese.[1]

This passage from The Odyssey—the epic Greek poem recorded around 700 BC—illustrates the role of cheese in the Archaic Mediterranean World (776–480 BC). It reveals that the technology required to make hard, rinded cheeses suitable for aging and grating was now available. Cheese was, in fact, an important part of Greek culture. It not only was an integral part of the daily Greek diet, but also played an important role in their religion. Cheese was a bloodless offering presented to Cybele, the Great Mother of the Gods, on the island of Crete. Cheese-filled cakes were also offered to Asklepios, the god of healing. Symposiums—ritualized drinking parties—involved a dessert course that included wine and cheese.

The passage also underscores the fact that the increasingly prosperous and numerous Greeks responded to the increasing strain on their limited agricultural resources and the growing competition from Canaanite Phoenicians—who established trading colonies throughout the Mediterranean, including Carthage in North Africa—by establishing their own a network of colonies in the Mediterranean, including Sicily, which would become famous for its grating cheeses.

The many archaic bronze cheese graters uncovered in the graves of warrior princes along the western Italian coast suggests that the Greek warrior ritual of grating cheese into wine reached Tuscany—the ancient homeland of the Etruscī (Etruscans)—by 601 BC. With the general advent of bronze cheese graters among the Etruscan elite, it appears that cheese-making practices were shifting away from acid/heat-coagulated cheeses such as ricotta toward rennet-coagulated aged pecorinos suitable for grating.[2]

Over 2,600 years later, you can now pick up a Tuscan pecorino here at Aperitivo. Boasting a Denominazione di Origine Protetta (Protected Designation of Origin) or DOP, Pecorino Toscano is carefully supervised throughout its production to ensure it is made by local farmers and artisans using traditional methods. It also means the milk used to make Pecorino Toscano must come from sheep raised and fed on hay and fodder from Toscana, Lazio, and Umbria. After the milk is curdled and the rennet is added, salt is added to the cheese mold for half a day. The pecorino blocks are then aged for six months and finished with a yellow rind. After another check, the block is marked as DOP and ready for export. Polyphemus would be proud.

A rich Italian delicacy, Pecorino Toscano can be grated on most pasta dishes and risottos as well as fresh salads or soups. Its herbal, nutty flavors also work great on a cheese board paired with nuts, jams, honey, or figs. It also marries marvelously with the caramelized elements in this “insanely delicious” recipe from Bon Appétit: Rigatoni with Fennel and Anchovies (https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/rigatoni-with-fennel-and-anchovies).

Paired with a bottle of “Laetitia Bullarum,” a natural sparkling white wine from the Fongoli vineyards in Umbria, even those most skeptical of eating a dish featuring anchovies, mint, or orange zest will come back for more.

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[1] Homer, The Odyssey, trans. Ian Johnston (Arlington, VA: Richer Resources Publications, 2006), 172.

[2] Paul S. Kindstedt, Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and Its Place in Western Civilization (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012), 64, 66, 68, 70, 72–73, 76, 79, 88–89.

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