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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Trentino

Ricotta fresca o affumicata (Trentino)Poìna

Ricotta is a boundary entry, set by heat and acid, not by microbes. Whey left from cow-milk cheesemaking is heated to 85–89 °C, then acid whey, wine vinegar or magnesium sulphate is added so the whey proteins rise as white flakes. The ricotta drains in baskets for about eight hours and is eaten within three days, or smoked for about a week into a firmer, brown-crusted poìna fumàda. Made in 6 steps over 10 days. The longest step, smoke (poìna fumàda), takes 7 days (Provincia autonoma di Trento 2013).

Key numbers
Main step7 daysReported[pat2013][onaf]Smoke (poìna fumàda)
Temperature85–89 °CReported[pat2013][onaf]Heat the whey
Fully documentedCheese10 daysPAT (traditional agri-food product, Autonomous Province of Trento)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) familyMore whey cheesesMore from Italy

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe PAT sheet gives the method, not a batch recipe. Each ricotta weighs 200–1,500 g.
Whey from cow-milk cheesemaking · From cows fed permanent-meadow hay or pasture[pat2013]
0.3–0.5 % (magnesium sulphate)Agro (sour whey), wine vinegar or magnesium sulphate · Any one of the three, added to the hot whey[pat2013][onaf]
Starternone; heat and acid make the curd

Total time across the recorded steps: 10 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: warm whey left in the cauldron after cheesemaking

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

After the cheese curd is lifted out, the whey stays in the cauldron or is poured back in through a cloth.

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

What makes this one different

The Trentino sheet allows three ways to set the whey - sour whey (agro), wine vinegar or magnesium sulphate. Its smoked form was once kept like a hard grating cheese in mountain homes.

Shape and size
Truncated cone, 200–1,500 g
Fresh
No rind; bright white, soft and crumbly with small holes; made all year
Smoked
Thin brown crust; firmer smoke-yellow paste; made in summer

Related ferments

Variants

  • Ricotta fresca (poìna)Eaten within three days; made all year.
  • Ricotta affumicata (poìna fumàda, enfumegada)Smoked about a week; firmer, brown-crusted, longer-keeping; summer only.

Safety

Fresh ricotta is moist and spoils fast, so the PAT sheet keeps it at 4 °C for no more than three days.

History and sources

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

The PAT sheet quotes an 1898 statistic, reported by Cesare Battisti in 1912, in which the 42 summer dairies of Primiero recorded ricotta alongside butter and cheese. Corrado Trotter (1979) described two kinds of poìna, a soft goat one and a smoked, aged one used as a grating cheese before grana was known there. Lease contracts for summer pastures required a share of poìna for the local hospice. The social dairy of Primiero later took over the village dairies' methods.

  1. [pat2013] Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trentino Agricoltura, Prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali - Formaggi, «Ricotta e ricotta affumicata» (last updated 28 December 2013; copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet «Ricotta fresca o affumicata»web
  3. [atlante2012] Provincia autonoma di Trento, Servizio Agricoltura 2012, Atlante dei prodotti agroalimentari del Trentino (Bazzanella G., Gilli G., Miclet E.), p. 83book