Driving Through A Painting

Pecorino

Amongst the European countries that produce wonderful cheese, Italy definitely ranks near the top. Some of the cheeses we have enjoyed this trip include squaquerone, stracciatella, buffalo mozzarella, asiago, formaggio di fossa, robiola and of course the great Parmigiano Reggiano but by far the most prevalent cheese across Tuscany is my favourite, Pecorino.

Pecorino comes in many flavours with the addition of ingredients such as mushrooms, truffles, farro, chestnuts, hazelnuts or fresh herbs and spices.   All Pecorino is made with fresh ewe’s (sheep) milk and can be eaten very young or aged for up to 14 months in ash, grape must, fresh straw or grape leaves.

Ewe’s milk

Since Pecorino is made from ewe’s milk it also has no lactose and is easier to digest. There is even some Pecorino made with vegetable rennet extracted from artichoke flowers instead of animal rennet, making a pure vegetarian cheese.

At a town festival, tucking into a dinner of grilled local specialities including sausages, ribs and fegatini (a combination of chicken and duck livers wrapped in caul fat), we struck up a conversation with the family sitting next to us.

Pienza

As it often happens, when we tell people about our blog and our search for honest, excellent food their recommendations soon follow and we always listen carefully. This particular conversation was focused on cheese and the great Pecorino of Pienza.

Cugusi

“If you want the best Pecorino around, you have to go to Cugusi just outside Montepulciano. You’ll see the big yellow sign.” the gentleman exclaimed.

Montepulciano

“They make the best Pecorino cheese in Pienza and you can buy it straight from the farm” he added.

We were planning on making the drive into Montepulciano the next day for some sightseeing and wine tasting anyway, so a stop at Cugusi was added to the list.

The following afternoon we arrived in Montepulciano. We parked the car and made the steep walk up into town through the curving streets mostly filled with tourist shops but dotted with some beautiful cafés, restaurants and wine shops.

Vino Nobile is the famous wine of Montepulciano and the best wine cave to visit in town is the one below the Palazzo Contucci, the Contucci cellar.

Contucci

The Contucci family has lived in Montepulciano since the eleventh century and has grown grapes for their fantastic Vino Nobile starting prior to the Renaissance.  Their cellar was built in the thirteenth century and was originally part of the inner city walls, later, in the sixteenth century, the palace above was built to accommodate Antonio Sangallo, the Elder it has also been the home to Pope Julius III and the Grand Duke of Ferdinand.

Aged in the cellar below

Today the palace continues to be occupied by the Contucci family and all of their wine is still aged in the cellar below.  With an afternoon of sightseeing under our belt, including a tour of the Contucci cellar and a light wine tasting, we headed back to the car with a couple of bottles in hand.

We had spotted the sign for the Cugusi farm on the way into town and before long we were pulling up to their farmhouse cheese shop.We were greeted by a young woman standing behind a counter filled with all types of Pecorino.

“What would you like to taste?” she asked.

“Everything!” I said and without hesitation she grabbed a piece of young and soft Pecorino and cut two generous samples to start.  It was creamy, slightly tart and so fresh you could taste the grass the sheep were eating.

Semi stagionato

Next was a semi stagionato (medium age) that was slightly more intense and firmer, delicious.  Moving to the stagionato the cheese was drier, much more firm and had developed a considerable flavor which is much sharper and packed quite a zing.  The Grand Riserva was their longest aged cheese at fourteen months and is hard like a Parmigiano.  The flavor of the Riserva is the most intense with a tart but enjoyable taste that has a long tongue biting after taste.

The samples kept coming with Pecorino al pepperoncino, al pepe nero and al latte crudo (unpasteurized).  What about a wedge of young Pecorino marinated in olive oil loaded with chilis and pepper?  Truffle pecorino is my absolute favorite and here they had two types to choose from, a super intense and funky white truffled variety and a more mellow and unctuous black truffle. If you love Pecorino cheese, Cugusi is cheese heaven!

With our shopping bag now full of Pecorino we were scared at what the tally would be but were super surprised when it came to under €15.  That much cheese back in Canada would have run you as much as a new car!

With our cheese on ice we headed out again and decided to take a drive into the farm land where all of this great wine and cheese gets its start.

To our delight, huge rolling hills of pasture and vineyard unfolded in front of us, patterned in shades of green and brown.

Rows of beige drying hay lined some fields as far as you could see while in the fields next to them the grasses were still green and changed shades as the wind blew across them.

Farmhouses sit on hilltops looking out over their crops as if they had been painted into this surreal landscape and rows of Cyprus trees created silhouettes in the distance.

The light, now low, emphasized the drama of the landscape and finding a deserted farm road we pulled over to watch the sun set in sublime Tuscan style.

It is no wonder, with inspiration like this, that Italy has produced some of the greatest painters in the world. I know we felt inspired being there and lucky to have the chance to take a drive through a living painting.