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Cheese from Italy, Calabria

Ricotta di capra affumicata

Smoked goat ricotta is a boundary entry, set by heat and acid, not by microbes. Goat whey with a little milk and salt is heated in a tinned copper pot to about 80–90 °C and stirred until the flakes rise; they drain a whole day in rush baskets, are salted and then smoked and dried over wood fires for days. It is aged at least 2 months in a cool, dark place, though some is sold after a short smoking.

Fully documentedCheese2.1 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product, Calabria)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give the method, not a batch recipe. A ricotta weighs 300–500 g.
Goat whey left from goat cheese making[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Goat milkONAF gives 10–20 litres per hectolitre of whey, optional[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Coarse saltONAF gives 2% in the whey; the cheeses are also salted dry after draining[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starternone; heat and the whey's own acidity make the curd

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.1 months

Start
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What changes: Starting material: goat whey left from cheesemaking, strained into a copper pot

Step 1 of 6
Filter the whey
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The whey left after the goat curd is lifted is strained through a mesh into a tinned copper pot (caccamo).

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Smoked goat ricotta is a boundary entry, set by heat and acid, not by microbes. Goat whey with a little milk and salt is heated in a tinned copper pot to about 80–90 °C and stirred until the flakes rise; they drain a whole day in rush baskets, are salted and then smoked and dried over wood fires for days. It is aged at least 2 months in a cool, dark place, though some is sold after a short smoking. Made in 6 steps over 2.1 months. The longest step, age in the dark, takes at least 2 months (Regione Calabria).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Age in the dark
Temperature80–90 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Heat with milk and salt

What makes this one different

Calabrian goat ricotta that is salted, wood-smoked and aged at least 2 months, so it turns firm and grateable. The Mammola ricotta is shaped with a swollen head like a drumstick.

Size
Long cylinder about 20 cm long and 10 cm across, 300–500 g; the Mammola type has a swollen head, about 30 cm long and 0.7–1.0 kg (ONAF)
Season
October to July

Related ferments

Variants

  • Small cylinderAbout 20 cm long and 10 cm across, 0.25–0.30 kg (ONAF)
  • Ricotta affumicata di MammolaLong drumstick or "fertility symbol" shape, about 30 cm long, 0.7–1.0 kg

Safety

The regional file names unpasteurised whey and milk, tinned copper pots, wooden and rush tools and the ageing rooms as risks. It says unpasteurised whey and milk can bring problems of total bacterial count, somatic cells and Staphylococcus aureus. It advises checking the milk first, good hygiene and a visual check of the finished ricotta, discarding any with faults.

Hazards the sources name: Staphylococcus aureus, named in the regional file as a risk of unpasteurised whey and milk.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The ONAF sheet traces the word ricotta to Latin recoctus, "cooked twice", and says the product can be dated to Greco-Roman times, citing Columella's De re rustica for ricotta in general. It says that long ago shepherds in distant mountain areas smoked or dried unsold fresh ricotta and took it to market once a week. It cites Achille Bruni, Nuova Enciclopedia Agraria (Naples, 1859) and the CNR study on dairy products of the Mezzogiorno (Milan, 1992), and says a Belmonte Calabro dairy has records of production for more than the 25 years the PAT rules require. Mammola holds a Festa della Ricotta Affumicata every year on the first Sunday of June.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Calabria, Prodotti agro-alimentari tradizionali, sheet «Ricotta di capra affumicata» (scanned copy hosted by ONAF; no text layer)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet «Ricotta di capra affumicata»web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page «Ricotta di capra affumicata» (id 1133)web