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Cheese from Southern Italy, especially Sicily

Ricotta salataricotta salata siciliana

A boundary entry, set by heat and acid rather than by microbes. Whey left from making cow, sheep or goat cheese is heated to 80–85 °C, sometimes with a little milk or an acidifier, until the whey proteins float up as flakes. The ricotta drains in baskets, is salted by hand and dried for weeks to months, often in the open air, into a firm, crumbly grating cheese.

Recipe

Ricotta salata, a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: 8w9d, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Amounts from a sourceTraditional practice with no fixed amounts beyond the milk share given for Basilicata.
Whey from cheesemaking (pecorino, mixed or goat cheese)[pat-sicilia][pat-basilicata]
Milk, added at 60–65 °C (Basilicata, optional)2–10 %[pat-basilicata]
An acidifier such as lactic or citric acid; traditionally 'agra', whey soured with lemon or vinegar[pat-sicilia]
Dry salt, rubbed on by hand[pat-sicilia][pat-basilicata]
Starternone; heat and acid set

Total time across the recorded steps: 11 days

Start
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80–85 °C

What changes: The whey is heated to 80–85 °C in a tinned copper cauldron

Step 1 of 5
Heat the whey
Time
Not documented
Temperature
80–85 °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

A boundary entry, set by heat and acid rather than by microbes. Whey left from making cow, sheep or goat cheese is heated to 80–85 °C, sometimes with a little milk or an acidifier, until the whey proteins float up as flakes. The ricotta drains in baskets, is salted by hand and dried for weeks to months, often in the open air, into a firm, crumbly grating cheese. Made in 5 steps over 11 days. The longest step, dry and ripen, takes at least 10 days (ALSIA Basilicata).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 10 daysReported[pat-basilicata][onaf-rs]Dry and ripen
Temperature80–85 °CReported[pat-sicilia][pat-basilicata]Heat the whey

What makes this one different

Fresh ricotta is salted and dried for weeks or months, which turns a soft, perishable whey curd into a firm grating cheese that keeps.

Size (Sicily)
Cylinder or truncated cone about 20 cm high and 15 cm across, 300 to 1000 g

Related ferments

Safety

Salting and drying are what preserve it; after cleaning it is kept in cold rooms.

History and sources

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

In Sicily the priest Gaetano Salamone wrote a treatise for farmers and cheesemakers in the late 1800s describing how ricotta was made. Salted ricotta was the old way to keep it longer than fresh ricotta.

  1. [pat-sicilia] Regione Siciliana 2024, Schede PAT Sicilia XXIV aggiornamento, 'Ricotta salata siciliana' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [pat-basilicata] ALSIA Basilicata, traditional product sheet 'Ricotta salata' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  3. [onaf-rs] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Ricotta salata' (Sicily)web