Sardinian pecorino cheese is a white cheese that’s made from the milk of Sardinian Sheep. For Roberto Casula, making Sardinian pecorino cheese is a family tradition.
Casula, a third-generation farmer from Desulo, Sardinia, began milking sheep and making cheese at age 16 on his family’s sheep farm. His father was a shepherd, so was his grandfather, and an uncle who lived to be 106 years old and only retired from farming at age 90.
“I am following in the footsteps of my grandfather and father,” Casula said. “I am continuing the family tradition of breeding. There is a lot of work involved in managing a flock of sheep. It's not just the milking. There are so many other things. Breeding [plus] milking morning and evening for milk production.”
Guests staying at Conrad Chia Laguna Sardinia can meet Casula and get a rare firsthand look at how this cheese is made in the resort’s 4x4 Cheese Experience, which they offer in partnership with a local vendor.
The four-hour experience starts at the hotel, where guests are picked up in a Land Rover and travel 2,000 feet up into one of the largest UNESCO-protected holm oak forests in the Mediterranean. There, guests meet Casula, who now owns a farm of 300 West Sardinian Black Sheep (also known as Nera di Arbus). Guests watch as Casula takes milk collected from his own sheep that morning, adds renic, a cheese-binding agent, and heats the mixture up until it reaches 38 degrees Celsius. As it heats up, it thickens. Casula then mixes it by hand as it curdles. It’s then molded into two wheels of cheese and drained, making five pounds of cheese that’s ready to eat.
Within 30 minutes, the fresh pecorino is done and ready to be consumed onsite. Guests gather at picnic tables to snack on the fresh cheese, plus Carasau breads, sausages, olives, wine, and more.
According to Casula, he started doing demonstrations like this for fun and has since met foodie guests from around the world.
“I feel good around all these nice people. I showcase our product, recounting its history, our pastoral traditions, and the history of Sardinia through the demonstration of cheese-making,” Casula said. “They come from all over the world. From Brazil, US, from Spain, from Asia.”
