The days begin to lengthen; the air tingles with newly awoken perfumes, and the pastures turn soft green in colour: it's this first grass of March which gives its name to these famous "caciotta" cheeses. The Marzolino cheeses are ancient caciotta cheeses, produced with pure sheep's milk; there are ones from Tuscany - the "chiantigiane", very closely related to the pecorino cheeses from the Crete Senesi - but production extends to the pastures of Umbria and Latium (or Lazio). The caciotta has a characteristic oval or cylindrical shape; it is rather small, and never weighs more than 500 grams. It appears that the tradition behind the small shape derives from the scarcity of milk produced by sheep fed on the first, still sparse spring grasses, perfumed with thyme, sainfoin and wild thyme. In the fresh cheese the crust is thin and white, the texture is uniform but rather soft and the taste is unmistakable. In the matured cheese the crust is reddish, the texture is very compact and the flavour is rather tangy. The distinctive flavour of the sheep's milk and the fresh grass and herbs of this cheese can be particularly appreciated if it is served with honey, broad (fava) beans and small fresh onions, walnuts, olives, spicy rocket leaves and fresh chillis, pears and fruit jams.
Accompanying wines
Choose a young, good-bodied, red wine that has flowery and fruity aromas.
A Little History
The first historical references can be found in Book XI of Pliny the Elder's "Natural History" (Naturalis Historia), which describes the pecorino cheese from the Lunigiana region of Tuscany. In the XV century, in the pages of his "Summa Lacticiniorum", Pantaleone da Confienza writes that the marzolino cheeses from Tuscany already had a reputation as being among the best Italian cheeses. The name 'marzolino' comes from the Latin 'marceolinus' and is a reference to the fact that production started in the month of March when the weather was still cold and the new grass was starting to grow again in the pastures. It seems that the cheese was much appreciated by famous, noble people of the time such as Lorenzo The Magnificent and Catherine de Medici. In documents from the period there is reference to when Catherine de Medici went to France to marry King Henry II of France she took with her olive oil and marzolino cheese - as well as a team of chefs - so as not to be too homesick!
The days begin to lengthen; the air tingles with newly awoken perfumes, and the pastures turn soft green in colour: it's this first grass of March which gives its name to these famous "caciotta" cheeses. The Marzolino cheeses are ancient caciotta cheeses, produced with pure sheep's milk; there are ones from Tuscany - the "chiantigiane", very closely related to the pecorino cheeses from the Crete Senesi - but production extends to the pastures of Umbria and Latium (or Lazio). The caciotta has a characteristic oval or cylindrical shape; it is rather small, and never weighs more than 500 grams. It appears that the tradition behind the small shape derives from the scarcity of milk produced by sheep fed on the first, still sparse spring grasses, perfumed with thyme, sainfoin and wild thyme. In the fresh cheese the crust is thin and white, the texture is uniform but rather soft and the taste is unmistakable. In the matured cheese the crust is reddish, the texture is very compact and the flavour is rather tangy. The distinctive flavour of the sheep's milk and the fresh grass and herbs of this cheese can be particularly appreciated if it is served with honey, broad (fava) beans and small fresh onions, walnuts, olives, spicy rocket leaves and fresh chillis, pears and fruit jams.