Ragusano

Ragusano is a raw whole cow's milk pasta filata cheese produced on the Hyblaean plateau of Sicily, shaped as a parallelepiped with a square cross-section and rounded corners. Its weight ranges from 12 to 16 kg. Milk from cattle of the Modicana breed may be labelled as 'Ragusano da vacca modicana'. All stages of production, from cattle rearing to maturing, must occur within the delimited area.

About this designation

Registered as a PDO under file number PDO-IT-1505, Ragusano received EU protection on 2 July 1996 and is recorded in the eAmbrosia register under identifier EUGI00000013385. The protected name as registered is 'Ragusano'. The applicant body is the Consorzio per la tutela del formaggio Ragusano, headquartered at the Chamber of Commerce of Ragusa. The delimited geographical area comprises the entire territory of twelve municipalities in the province of Ragusa — Acate, Chiaramonte Gulfi, Comiso, Giarratana, Ispica, Modica, Monterosso Almo, Pozzallo, Ragusa, Santa Croce Camerina, Scicli and Vittoria — together with the municipalities of Noto, Palazzolo Acreide and Rosolini in the province of Siracusa. All stages of production, including cattle rearing, milking, cheesemaking and maturing, must take place within this area. The cheese is produced exclusively from whole, raw cow's milk. The feed of the cattle must be principally composed of wild plants and herbs from the Ibleo plateau, which may also be made into hay. The parallelepiped form has sides of the square section varying between 15 and 18 cm and a length varying from 43 to 53 centimetres. Weight varies from 12 to 16 kg. Maximum moisture is 42 %. Fat in dry matter is no less than 40 % for table cheeses and no less than 38 % for cheeses ripened for over six months. The rind, with a maximum thickness of 4 mm, may be coated in olive oil. At the end of the minimum ripening period, a marking is branded on the cheese's main face alongside the producer's EC identification number. The word 'Ragusano' is imprinted on the rind by stamping bands. Packaging of portioned or grated Ragusano from which the rind has been removed must take place exclusively within the demarcated geographical area. The EU PDO symbol must appear on all packaging.

Source: The register document this entry was written from · retrieved August 26, 2026

Distinctive facts

• Registered as a PDO on 2 July 1996 under file number PDO-IT-1505; eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013385.
• The specification requires a parallelepiped shape weighing from 12 to 16 kg, with a maximum rind thickness of 4 mm.
• Cheese produced exclusively from milk of Modicana breed cattle may carry the additional designation 'Ragusano da vacca modicana'.
• Portioned or grated Ragusano from which the rind has been removed must be packaged exclusively within the demarcated geographical area.

Tasting notes

Sicilian cow's milk pasta filata cheese, distinctive parallelepiped (rectangular) shape, aged 3-12 months. Pale yellow to amber paste, firm dense texture, savory milky-sweet flavor evolving to intense piquant when aged 12+ months.

HoReCa use

The specification states that Ragusano may be marketed whole, portioned with or without rind, or grated.

Packaging

• whole-piece-10-16kg
• half-piece-vacuum-5kg
• wedge-vacuum-500g
• wedge-vacuum-250g