Healthy Living Loves Local: Dancing Ewe Farm

Jody Somers making Pecorino at Dancing Ewe Farm, Granville, NY
Jody Somers making Pecorino at Dancing Ewe Farm, Granville, NY

 Pecorino is a name given to a style of sheep’s milk cheese made in Italy. Jody and Luisa from Dancing Ewe Farm in Granville, NY specifically love and adore Pecorino Toscano, which, as they describe, is for them “way-more” than just a type of cheese.  It is a symbol of a region called the Maremma…and is also home to Luisa.toscana

Pecorino can be young or aged or somewhere in the middle. Luisa and Jody prefer them to be not too old, not too young, a bit firm with good oiliness, just beyond bland but just before reaching overly sharp. Sheep’s milk contains a high percentage of butterfat and protein, and at room temperature the Pecorino have a tendency to weep tears of butterfat on the exposed surface. It is this butterfat that leads to this rich flavor that only sheep’s milk can offer. This is a trait of an authentically produced Pecorino.
The Pecorino from Dancing Ewe Farm is produced the way Jody learned in Italy. Their sheep are milked twice a day and the milk is transformed into Pecorino Fresco and Pecorino Stagionato. The curd, obtained from pure sheep’s milk with added calf’s rennet and imported cultures, is cooked, cut up into hazelnut sized pieces for Fresco or into corn sized pieces for Stagionato. It is then pressed, salted and aged.

Aging cave at Dancing Ewe Farm

Our Saratoga Springs Cheese department is pleased to bring you Pecorino Fresco, Pecorino al Tartufo (with Black Truffles from Tuscany) and Pecorino Stagionato from Dancing Ewe Farm. Be sure and look for it on your next visit.