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Cheese from Italy, Sappada

Ricotta SchotteSchotte Kneidilam

A Sappada ricotta whose name means "sour ricotta". Sweet cow whey from cooked-curd cheeses is left to sour on its own for a few days, then heated until it flocculates, so its acid comes from fermentation and the set itself from heat. The classic type is heated above 80 °C, drained in cloth bags, lightly smoked and aged; the other is heated to about 60 °C, pressed, salted, spiced and flavoured with tarragon.

Fully documentedCheesePAT (traditional agri-food product, Veneto)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give the method, not a batch size or doses. A ricotta weighs about 0.300 kg.
Sweet cow whey left from cooked-curd cheeses[onaf-sheet][pat-sheet]
Salt[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Herbs and spices; local tarragon for the fresh type[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starternone added; the whey sours naturally for a few days
Start
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Milk sugarLactic acid

What changes: Sweet whey is left a few days and turns sour on its own

Step 1 of 5
Let the whey sour
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The whey is left to acidify "in a lactic way" for some days until it is sour enough; nothing acid is added. The dairy sheets give no pH.

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 Sappada ricotta whose name means "sour ricotta". Sweet cow whey from cooked-curd cheeses is left to sour on its own for a few days, then heated until it flocculates, so its acid comes from fermentation and the set itself from heat. The classic type is heated above 80 °C, drained in cloth bags, lightly smoked and aged; the other is heated to about 60 °C, pressed, salted, spiced and flavoured with tarragon.

Key numbers
Temperatureat least 80 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Heat until it flocculates

What makes this one different

The whey is soured naturally for days before it is heated, so no acid is added, and the dialect name means "sour ricotta". Sappada makes it two ways, smoked and aged or fresh with tarragon.

Size
Small cylinder (caciotta shape) or pear, about 0.300 kg
Rind
None; classic type browned by smoke, fresh type white with green tarragon flecks
Season
Made all year

Related ferments

Variants

  • Schotte Kneidilam: heated above 80 °C, drained in cloth, smoked and aged, caciotta or pear shape, brown
  • Gelelchtschotte / Saurnschotte: heated to about 60 °C, pressed, salted, spiced and tarragon-flavoured, kept without air

Safety

The classic type is heated above 80 °C and the fresh type to about 60 °C. The fresh type is kept sealed from air in jars or vacuum packs.

History and sources

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

The Veneto atlas says smoking is one of the oldest ways to keep food in the mountains, where wood is plentiful, and that Sappada still smokes its ricotta. The vacuum-packed fresh type keeps longer without the smoked, slightly bitter taste. ONAF adds that women once made the fresh saurnschotte in every home from surplus milk left four days by the wood stove, mixed it with tarragon gathered from mid-August to mid-September and kept it in wooden tubs. The chef Fabrizia Meroi revived the recipe, now made in the village dairy Plodar Kelder. It was entered in the Veneto list of traditional products.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
Process times
The sources we found give no figure for how long any of its steps take.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione del Veneto, Atlante dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali del Veneto, 'Ricotta Schotte' (p. 404; copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Ricotta Schotte'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Ricotta Schotte' (id 1100)web
  4. [legge182-2017] Repubblica Italiana, Legge 5 dicembre 2017, n. 182, Distacco del Comune di Sappada dalla Regione Veneto e aggregazione alla Regione Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 292, 15 December 2017; in force 16 December 2017)spec