🌍 Southern Europe
Also known as: Mediterranean Europe
Italy, Greece, Spain: mozzarella, ricotta, pecorino, feta.
Southern Europe is the southern part of Europe along the Mediterranean, with hot dry summers and mild winters. The Mediterranean climate, with hot dry summers and mild winters, suits sheep and goats better than cows, especially in the mountains and on islands. That is why Southern Europe is rich in sheep’s and goat’s milk cheeses, while the plains of northern Italy and Spain also have cattle dairying.
Italy is famous for pecorino made from sheep’s milk, mozzarella di bufala from the milk of Campanian water buffalo, Parmigiano Reggiano and ricotta, which is made from whey. Greece’s main cheese is feta, made from sheep’s milk or a mix of sheep’s and goat’s milk; Spain has Manchego, and Portugal the sheep’s milk cheeses of Serra da Estrela. Many of these names are protected in the EU.
The seasonal droving of herds between mountains and valleys in Italy, Spain, Greece and other countries is inscribed on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list as “Transhumance”.
What it includes
- Peoples
- Traditional products
- Dairy animals
How it connects to milk
🌍 Southern Europe ← milked in ← 🐃 Water buffalo → gives → 🥛 Milk
Links
- Traditional products
- 🧀 Mozzarella, 🧀 Ricotta, 🧀 Parmesan, 🧀 Pecorino, 🧀 Feta
- Peoples
- 🧑🤝🧑 Italians, 🧑🤝🧑 Greeks
- Dairy animals
- 🐃 Water buffalo, 🐑 Sheep
- Traditions
- 🫒 Olives, 🏛️ Mediterranean diet
- Part of
- 🌍 World regions
- Wine and milk
- 🏛️ Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands
Frequently asked questions
Why are there so many sheep cheeses in Southern Europe?
Sheep and goats cope with hot, dry summers and poor mountain pasture better than cows.
What is ricotta made from?
From the whey left over after making other cheeses, sometimes with added milk.
What is real feta made from?
Sheep’s milk or a mix of sheep’s and goat’s milk; the name is protected in the EU for Greece.
What to read next
- 🧀 Parmesan — Parmigiano Reggiano, a hard cheese from Emilia-Romagna and part of Lombardy, aged from 12 months.
- 🧑🤝🧑 Italians — The people of Italy in southern Europe, with a rich cheese tradition: mozzarella di bufala from Campania, ricotta and Parmesan.
- 🫒 Olives — The fruit of the olive tree, pressed for oil or cured and eaten as table olives.
- 🏛️ Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands — An Italian coast with stone vine terraces above the sea; a UNESCO World Heritage site.
- 🧑🤝🧑 Greeks — The people of Greece in the southern Balkans and on Mediterranean islands; their main cheese is feta from sheep's milk, protected in the EU.
Similar
🌍 Balkans · 🌍 Carpathians · 🌍 North Africa · 🌍 Anatolia and the Middle East · 🌍 South Asia · 🌍 West Africa
Sources
- EUR-Lex — Commission Regulation (EC) No 1829/2002 (Feta)
- EUR-Lex — Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 (first EU list of PDO/PGI names)
- UNESCO ICH — Transhumance, the seasonal droving of livestock (2023)