Pecorino seasoned in walnut leaves
There are many ways to age pecorino in unique environments, and today we’d like to introduce one particularly interesting method.
If you take a cheese of about six weeks, already dry and with a well-formed crust, and put it in a box or in a terracotta jar (ziro) together with freshly picked walnut leaves for about 10 days outside the cold room and then another 2 weeks in the cold room, the result is truly remarkable.
Walnut leaves are best harvested in late spring or early summer, when they are still fresh and rich in essential oils.
The walnut tree (Juglans regia) is known for its aromatic and mildly astringent properties. Its leaves contain tannins, polyphenols, and volatile compounds that are gradually released into the cheese during the aging process.
These compounds contribute to give the pasta a unique aromatic profile, with scent of underbrush and hints of mushroom, grass and butter in taste.
The cheese remains in contact with the leaves for about a month, during which time it ferments together with them.
At the end of the process, the cheese is covered with a beautiful white mold, intertwined with the now-blackened leaves, transformed by fermentation.
