Pecorino Romano is a hard, salty Italian cheese, suitable primarily for grating, made out of sheep milk (the Italian word pecora, from which the name derives, means sheep). Pecorino Romano was produced in Latium up to 1884 when, due to the prohibition issued by the city council of salting the cheese inside their shops in Rome, many producers moved to the island of Sardinia. It is produced exclusively from the milk of sheep raised on the plains of Lazio and in Sardinia. Most of the cheese is now produced on the island, especially in Gavoi.