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Fiera del Cacio in Pienza
On the first Sunday of September, the districts of Pienza roll whole pecorino cheeses at a wooden spindle.
Cheeses for Fiera del Cacio in Pienza
Pienza, in the Val d'Orcia of Tuscany, is known for its sheep's-milk pecorino, and on the first Sunday of September it holds the Fiera del Cacio, its cheese fair. Stalls of local pecorino, young and aged, fill the streets, and in the main square the town's districts compete at cacio al fuso: players roll a whole cheese across the paving at a spindle set in the centre, scoring by how close the cheese comes to rest. Cacio is the Tuscan word for cheese. The fair has been held since the 1960s, and pecorino toscano now has protected status.
The cheeses
Written by the EveryCheese desk with AI assistance. Background: "Pienza" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Pecorino: Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pecorino Toscano: Dan, CC BY-SA 2.0, source