The Salty Heart of Rome: Your Guide to Selling Murray's Pecorino Romano

Cheese Details

Cheese Name: Pecorino Romano
Producer/Brand: Murray's Cheese
Country/Region of Origin: Italy / Sardinia 1
Milk Type & Treatment: Pasteurized Sheep's Milk 1
A2 Dominant: Yes
Cheese Style: Hard, cooked-curd grating cheese 4
Aging: 6 Months 1

Introduction

Welcome to one of the most historically significant and culinarily essential cheeses in the world: Pecorino Romano. This is not merely an ingredient; it is a direct taste of Italian history, a cheese whose story is deeply intertwined with the rise of the Roman Empire and the very fabric of Roman cuisine.5 As part of the Murray's Cheese branded product line, this specific Pecorino Romano has been hand-selected by our expert cheesemongers, representing our favorite version of this traditional product.1 It offers the perfect balance of authentic, robust flavor and approachability, making it an indispensable staple for your counter and a thrilling discovery for your customers. Prepare to introduce them to the sharp, salty, and profoundly savory cheese that has been the heart of Roman kitchens for millennia.

The Quick Pitch

Elevator Pitch

This is Murray's Pecorino Romano, an authentic Italian sheep's milk cheese with a remarkable 2,000-year history. It's intensely salty, sharp, and nutty—the essential cheese for classic Roman pastas like Cacio e Pepe and a gutsier, more flavorful alternative to Parmesan. Use this to bring a bold, zesty, and truly traditional flavor to any dish.

Key Selling Points

A Taste of Ancient History: This cheese is a living artifact, with a history stretching back over two millennia to the Roman Empire. It was famously a core component of the daily rations for Roman Legionaries, prized for its longevity and its dense nutritional profile of salt, fat, and protein that provided essential energy for soldiers on long campaigns.5 Selling this cheese is selling a piece of that history—a robust, powerful flavor that literally fueled an empire.
The Authentic Roman Pasta Cheese: While many customers may reach for Parmigiano-Reggiano, it is crucial to educate them that in Rome, Pecorino Romano is the undisputed king of pasta cheeses. It is the non-negotiable, essential ingredient in the four great Roman pasta dishes: Cacio e Pepe, Gricia, Amatriciana, and Carbonara.7 Its flavor is sharper, saltier, and more piquant than Parmesan, allowing it to stand up to rich ingredients like guanciale and create the uniquely savory sauces that define Roman cuisine.9
Naturally Easier to Digest (A2 Dominant): This is a powerful selling point for a modern, health-aware audience. Because this cheese is made from 100% sheep's milk, it is naturally composed of A2 beta-casein protein. This is the same type of protein found in human, goat, and buffalo milk.11 Many customers who experience digestive discomfort from conventional cow's milk products (which often contain the A1 protein variant) report that they can enjoy sheep's milk cheeses without issue, making this an excellent and delicious option for a wider range of people.12
Curated by Experts for Perfect Balance: This isn't just any Pecorino Romano; it's a Murray's branded product. This means our expert team has traveled, tasted, and evaluated countless versions to find the one that meets our exacting standards.1 This specific cheese, aged for six months, was chosen for its perfect balance of nutty undertones, zesty tang, and a clean, powerful salinity. It delivers the authentic punch of Pecorino Romano in a profile that is robust yet approachable, ensuring your customer is getting an exceptional product at an incredible value.1

"If you like X, you'll love this"

Parmigiano-Reggiano: For the customer who loves the nutty, granular texture of Parmesan, this is the next step in their flavor journey. Explain that Pecorino Romano offers a similar hardness and grating quality but delivers a more pronounced salty and tangy kick. It's the cheese to choose when you want the cheese itself to be a star flavor in the dish, not just a background note.9
Aged Spanish Manchego: Customers who enjoy the rich, nutty, and slightly grassy notes of sheep's milk cheeses like Manchego will find a familiar-yet-exciting flavor here. Frame this as its Italian cousin—while Manchego is often semi-firm and buttery, Pecorino Romano is harder, saltier, and more intensely savory, making it a powerhouse for grating and cooking applications.10

Tasting & Sensory Profile

Appearance: The paste is a dense, compact, moon-white to pale straw color.6 As a classic hard, cooked-curd cheese, it exhibits a distinctly granular and flaky texture that can appear almost crystalline. When grated, it becomes fluffy and feathery, a quality that allows it to dissolve seamlessly into hot pasta water to create a creamy sauce.1
Aroma: This cheese is distinctly aromatic and pungent, a hallmark of high-quality sheep's milk. Upon cutting or grating, it releases a pronounced "sheepy" tang—a savory, slightly lanolin-like scent—mingled with nutty and briny notes.1 The aroma is robust and promises the intense flavor to come.
Flavor Profile: The flavor is intensely savory, sharp, and complex. The experience begins with a powerful, clean salinity that is the cheese's defining characteristic. This is immediately followed by a sharp, piquant, and zesty tang that brightens the entire palate.2 Beneath these bold primary flavors lie rich, nutty undertones and a subtle grassy finish, a testament to its sheep's milk origin. The overall taste is long-lasting and robust.
Texture & Mouthfeel: In the mouth, the cheese feels firm, hard, and granular. It breaks apart with a brittle, crisp snap, a texture often described as friable.7 As it warms on the palate, these small crystalline pieces begin to dissolve, releasing their intense salty flavor and leaving a lingering, savory finish.

The Story & Interesting Facts

To truly connect a customer with this cheese, share its incredible story. The name itself is a map of its identity: 'Pecora' is Italian for sheep, and 'Romano' refers to its ancient origins in the countryside surrounding Rome.1 This cheese is so foundational to Italian culture that its production methods were documented by Roman scholars like Pliny the Elder and Virgil in the 1st century BCE.5

The most compelling anecdote is its role as the "fuel of the empire." Roman legionaries were issued a daily ration of 27 grams (about one ounce) of Pecorino Romano along with bread and farro soup. The cheese was calorie-dense, easily portable, and its high salt content made it exceptionally durable on long marches. It was considered instrumental to a soldier's strength and well-being, providing the essential fat, protein, and salt needed to sustain them.5

Another fascinating point that often clarifies customer questions is its modern production location. While the cheese was born in the Lazio region around Rome, its immense popularity led producers to seek new pastures. In the late 19th century, production expanded to the island of Sardinia, which offered vast grasslands and large flocks of sheep. The conditions were so ideal that today, over 95% of all authentic Pecorino Romano PDO is made in Sardinia, just like the cheese you are selling.17

Pairings & Culinary Uses

Perfect Food Pairings

The key to pairing Pecorino Romano is to either contrast its intense saltiness with sweetness or to match its savory power with other robust flavors.

Sweet: Drizzles of honey (especially chestnut or truffle honey), aged balsamic glaze, fig jam, and fresh fruits like pears, melon, and sweet grapes.7
Savory: Cured meats like Prosciutto San Daniele and guanciale, spicy salami, briny green olives, pickled giardiniera, semi-dried tomatoes, and nuts like walnuts or hazelnuts.1
Carrier (crackers, bread, etc.): Crusty sourdough bread, rustic whole-grain crackers, or simple toasted bread to let the cheese's powerful flavor shine.19

Beverage Pairings

The cheese's high fat and salt content demand beverages with enough structure (tannin, acidity, or carbonation) to cleanse the palate.

Wine: Full-bodied, tannic Italian red wines are the classic choice. Recommend a Chianti Classico, Barolo, Brunello di Montalcino, or a bold Cabernet Sauvignon. A Spanish Tempranillo (Rioja) also works beautifully.9
Beer: Look for beers that can stand up to the cheese's intensity. Malty Amber Ales complement the nutty notes, while a hoppy IPA or a complex Belgian Tripel has the bitterness and carbonation to cut through the richness.22
Other: For a non-alcoholic option, suggest a tart cranberry seltzer. For something more adventurous, a bold, bitter amaro-based cocktail provides a fantastic counterpoint.

In the Kitchen

This is where Pecorino Romano truly reigns. It is the soul of classic Roman pasta. Instruct customers to grate it finely to create a creamy, emulsified sauce for the four pillars of Roman pasta:

Cacio e Pepe: The ultimate simple classic, made with just cheese, toasted black pepper, and starchy pasta water.8
Pasta alla Gricia: "Cacio e Pepe with bacon's grandfather," featuring crispy rendered guanciale (cured pork jowl).26
Spaghetti all'Amatriciana: Adds tomato to the Gricia base for a richer sauce.
Spaghetti alla Carbonara: A creamy sauce of egg yolks, guanciale, black pepper, and Pecorino Romano (no cream!).7

Beyond pasta, it is a phenomenal finishing cheese. Encourage customers to sprinkle it generously over soups and stews, baked breads, roasted vegetables, or onto a white pizza topped with arugula and prosciutto.1

Cheesemonger Quick Guide

Evocative Words

Salty, Sharp, Piquant, Zesty, Nutty, Granular, Robust, Ancient, Aromatic, Tangy.

Sample Phrases to Use with Customers

For the Pasta Chef: "If you're making a Roman pasta like Carbonara or Cacio e Pepe, this is the authentic cheese you absolutely need. It's much saltier and sharper than Parmesan, which is what gives the sauce its traditional, powerful flavor."
For the Cheese Board Explorer: "Looking for something bold for your cheese board? This Pecorino is fantastic. Try it with a drizzle of honey or some fig jam—that sweet and salty combination is absolutely incredible and a true Italian classic."
For the Health-Conscious/Curious: "A really interesting thing about this cheese is that it's made from 100% sheep's milk, which is naturally an 'A2' milk. Many of my customers who are sensitive to regular cow's milk dairy find they can really enjoy this one without any discomfort."

Works cited

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