The long-reigning–and undisputed–king and queen of Italy’s royal cheese canon are Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Romano. The former, an aged cow’s milk cheese from Emilia Romagna, and the latter, an aged, sheep’s milk cheese from… actually, most of the time not Rome, or even the surrounding region of Lazio. Today, if you happen to get your hands on some authentic Pecorino Romano in Rome, you’re likely eating cheese made on the island of Sardinia. 

In Italian, pecorino simply means any type of sheep’s milk cheese, and it is quite literally the stuff of Ancient Roman lore: the poet Virgil famously documented how the cheese, as a key staple of the Roman soldier’s daily diet, helped to fuel the empire. Today, there are nine distinct, legally regulated varieties spanning different regions of the Italian peninsula, and easily, the most famed is Pecorino Romano.