Cheese is composed of milk, rennet, salt, and what else? Many cheeses are enriched with spices, ingredients that are often tiny to the eye but are capable of revolutionizing the flavors and aromas of a product.
One dairy tradition that makes generous use of spices in cheeses is that of Sicily: think, for example, of the famous Piacentinu with saffron. But no spice is as important in Sicily as black pepper: it is thanks to the fortunate marriage between Sicily's richest sheep's milk and the spice that a unique and enveloping product like Centroform's Pecorino al Pepe nero is born.
Black pepper has a very long tradition in Italian culinary and cultural history. It was well known and widespread in the Roman Empire, even though it was very expensive; Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire lists pepper as "the favorite ingredient in the most exclusive Roman cuisine."
