Sheep's milk cheeses
Rich and nutty: Roquefort, Manchego, Pecorino, Feta, Idiazabal and oscypek.
Sheep's milk is the richest of the common dairy milks, with close to twice the fat and much more protein than cow's milk, so it gives more cheese per litre and a full, nutty, slightly sweet flavour. Sheep are milked across the Mediterranean, the Balkans, the Middle East and the Carpathians, and many of the oldest cheeses are theirs: Roquefort, Pecorino, Manchego, Feta, Idiazabal, oscypek and bryndza.
Pecorino and the south
Pecora is Italian for sheep, and pecorino means any sheep's milk cheese. Pecorino Romano, Pecorino Sardo, Pecorino Toscano and Pecorino Siciliano are protected, each with its own size and age, and Sardinia, with its great flocks, makes most Pecorino Romano. Greek feta and kefalotyri, Spanish Manchego, Roncal and Zamorano, and Portugal's Serra da Estrela, set with the flowers of a wild thistle, are all sheep's milk cheeses. Roquefort, the great blue, is made only from the milk of Lacaune ewes.
Shepherd cheeses of the north and east
In the Carpathians and the Tatras, shepherds still make cheese in summer huts: Polish oscypek and bryndza, Slovak bryndza for bryndzové halušky, and Romanian telemea and caș. Ewes are seasonal, milked mainly from late winter to summer after lambing, so production rises and falls with the year. Sheep's milk freezes better than cow's milk, which lets small dairies save it for making cheese later in the season. Turkey's tulum is packed into a goatskin or sheepskin bag to ripen.
In South and Central Asia
In South Asia, sheep are kept mostly for wool and meat, and their milk is seldom made into cheese, though herders in the high mountains make small amounts for their own use. In Central Asia and Iran, sheep's milk becomes kurt, qurut and kashk, dried and kept for winter, and in Jordan, jameed of sheep's or goat's milk is the soul of mansaf. Iran's lighvan, a brined sheep's milk cheese from near Tabriz, is a favourite with bread and herbs.
Worth knowing
- Roquefort: Blue of Lacaune ewes' milk
- Pecorino Romano: Salty grating cheese of Lazio and Sardinia
- Manchego: Pressed cheese of La Mancha
- Feta: Greek brined cheese with up to 30 per cent goat's milk
- Idiazabal: Basque cheese of Latxa sheep
- Oscypek: Smoked cheese of the Tatras
- Serra da Estrela: Portuguese cheese set with thistle
- Bryndza: Soft sheep's cheese of the Carpathians
Good to know
- Sheep's milk cheeses are rich, so cut thinner slices for a board.
- Aged Manchego and pecorino go well with quince paste, honey or pears.
- In Rome, young pecorino with raw broad beans is a spring custom, especially on the first of May.
Sources and further reading
Original text by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Sheep on EveryCheese
The cheeses written up so far, best known first.
🇾🇪 YemenYemeni cheeseجبنة تعز
A smoked semi-hard sheep or goat milk cheese from Taiz Governorate in Yemen.Sheep · Semi-soft · Savoury and brothy
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreCasu MarzuCasu martzu
A Sardinian fermented sheep cheese containing live fly larvae.Sheep · Savoury and brothy
🇮🇹 Italy and 4 moreCaciocavallo
A stretched-curd cheese from southern Italy shaped like a teardrop and aged to develop a hard rind.Cow · Stretched curd · Nutty
🇪🇸 SpainIdiazabalIdiazabal gazta
A hard, pressed sheep's milk cheese from the Basque Country with a dark rind and optional smoke.Sheep · Hard · Nutty
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreKasseriκασέρι
A pasta filata sheep's milk cheese aged for at least three months in Greece and Turkey.Sheep · Semi-hard · Savoury and brothy
🇵🇹 PortugalSerra da EstrelaQueijo Serra da Estrela
A soft Portuguese sheep's milk cheese coagulated with thistle and aged for at least a month.Sheep · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇸🇰 SlovakiaParenica
A semi-firm Slovak cheese made from steamed curds, often smoked and woven into spirals.Sheep · Semi-hard · Savoury and brothy
🇬🇷 GreeceGravieraγραβιέρα
A hard Greek cheese made from sheep or cow milk, aged for months and marked with a crisscross rind.Sheep · Hard · Sweet and caramel
🇵🇹 PortugalQueijo de Nisa
A semi-hard sheep's milk cheese from Alto Alentejo, Portugal, set with thistle.Sheep · Semi-hard · Savoury and brothy
🇬🇪 GeorgiaTeniliტენილი ყველი
A stuffed string cheese from Georgia's Meskheti region, made from sheep's milk and aged in clay pots.Sheep · Stretched curd · Savoury and brothy
🇮🇹 ItalyFormaggio di fossa
A sharp Italian cheese aged in sealed underground pits for a distinct anaerobic fermentation.Cow · Semi-hard · Sharp and tangy-aged
🇪🇸 SpainValdeónQueso de Valdeón
A Spanish blue cheese from León wrapped in sycamore or chestnut leavesCow · Semi-soft · Sharp and tangy-aged
🇬🇷 GreeceLadotyri MytilinisΛαδοτύρι Μυτιλήνης
A hard Greek cheese from Lesbos preserved in olive oil since ancient times.Sheep · Hard · Savoury and brothy
🇬🇷 GreeceMetsovoneΜετσοβόνε
A semi-hard smoked pasta filata cheese from the Greek village of Metsovo.Cow · Semi-hard · Savoury and brothy
🇮🇹 ItalyCacioricotta
A southern Italian cheese made from milk and whey using a hybrid method.Sheep · Semi-hard · Savoury and brothy
🇮🇹 ItalyRobiola
A soft-ripened Italian cheese from Piedmont and Lombardy, made from cow, goat, or sheep milk.Cow · Bloomy rind · Sweet and caramel
🇬🇧 United KingdomLanark Blue
A semi-hard blue cheese made from raw sheep's milk in Scotland.Sheep · Semi-hard · Savoury and brothy
🇮🇹 ItalyRed Pecorinopicurinu rusu
A red, stretched-curd sheep's milk cheese from Sicily, coloured with tomato sauce.Sheep · Stretched curd · Savoury and brothy
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Tenili: Georgian Recipes at Georgia About, CC BY 3.0, source
- Akkawi: Paul Joseph, CC BY 2.0, source
- Formaggio di fossa: Zeugma fr ( talk ) (Antoine FLEURY-GOBERT), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Serra da Estrela: Adriao, Public domain, source
- Casu Marzu: Shardan, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Valdeón: Tamorlan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Parenica: Stanislav Doronenko, Public domain, source
- Idiazabal: Xavigivax, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Graviera: Catlemur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Caciocavallo: Peachyeung316, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kasseri: E4024, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Queijo de Nisa: Adriao, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ladotyri Mytilinis: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Metsovone: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Robiola: Andrea Marchisio, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cacioricotta: Andrew Green, CC BY-SA 2.0, source