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Cheese from Italy, Abruzzo

Ricotta ovina di ArischiaRicotta co le ficore

Ricotta is a boundary entry, set by heat and a plant extract, not by microbes. Sheep whey from pecorino making is heated in a tinned copper cauldron to about 65 °C, raw sheep milk is added, and salt goes in near 75 °C. At about 78 °C an infusion of cut fig twigs is stirred in and a bunch of the twigs is held deep in the whey, so the proteins rise as flakes.

Fully documentedCheese0.1 minPAT (traditional agri-food product, Abruzzo)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe sheets give the method, not a batch size; the milk share is about 10% of the whey. A ricotta weighs about 0.5–2 kg.
Sheep whey from pecorino making, filtered[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Raw whole sheep milkabout 10% of the whey[onaf-sheet][pat-sheet]
Kitchen salt[pat-sheet]
Fig twigs (ficore), bark scored and buds removed, steeped in boiling waterfresh twigs 15–20 cm longThe milky sap mixes into the water; the infusion is filtered through cotton[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starternone; heat and an infusion of fig twigs make the proteins rise

Total time across the recorded steps: 0.1 min

Start
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65 °C

What changes: Raw sheep milk is stirred into the whey once it reaches about 65 °C

Step 1 of 5
Heat the whey and add milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
65 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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

Ricotta is a boundary entry, set by heat and a plant extract, not by microbes. Sheep whey from pecorino making is heated in a tinned copper cauldron to about 65 °C, raw sheep milk is added, and salt goes in near 75 °C. At about 78 °C an infusion of cut fig twigs is stirred in and a bunch of the twigs is held deep in the whey, so the proteins rise as flakes. Made in 5 steps over 0.1 min. The longest step, add the fig-twig infusion, takes 0.1 min (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…) and runs at 78 °C (Regione Abruzzo).

Key numbers
Main step0.1 minReported[onaf-sheet]Add the fig-twig infusion
Temperature78 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Add the fig-twig infusion

What makes this one different

The flakes are brought up with fig twigs, a plant coagulant, instead of acid or heat alone. Salt goes into the whey at about 75 °C and the fig infusion at about 78 °C.

Size
Cylinder or truncated cone with flat faces up to 18 cm across and a side up to 11 cm high; 0.5–2 kg
Rind
None; basket marks on a pale straw-yellow surface
Season
Not made in late summer, when the flock is in the mountains and the ewes lamb at the end of August

Related ferments

Safety

The ricotta is sold on the day it is made and kept only a few hours at 4–6 °C. The whey is heated to about 78 °C.

History and sources

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

The ONAF sheet says ricotta is very old, traces it to Sumerian and ancient Egyptian civilisations and to Homer's Odyssey, and reports a Christian tradition that Saint Francis of Assisi taught Lazio shepherds the technique. It credits the Aragonese, who ruled Abruzzo briefly between the 1400s and 1500s, with confirming sheep rearing in the local economy. Until about 50 years before the sheet was written, pecorino and its by-products, above all sheep ricotta made from the leftover whey, were the shepherds' staple food. The product is not officially dated, but the sheet says it has been made for at least 25 years, the minimum for a traditional agri-food product.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Abruzzo, Prodotti tradizionali (D.Lgs. 173/98, D.M. 350/99), application sheet 'Ricotta Ovina di Arischia', proposed by the Caseificio De Santis of Arischia (scanned copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Ricotta ovina di Arischia'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Ricotta ovina di Arischia, "Ricotta co le ficore"' (id 1245)web