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Cheese from Italy, Molise

Cacio-ricotta

A Molise shepherds' cheese made by first boiling raw ewe or goat milk, so the whey proteins stay in the curd with the casein. The milk is cooled to 36–38 °C and set with lamb or kid paste rennet in about an hour, broken to hazelnut size and put in rush baskets, then salted dry. It is eaten fresh or ripened about six months in dry cellars for grating.

Fully documentedCheese6 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product of Molise)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe rennet amount is per 15 litres of milk. Cheeses weigh about 1 kg on average.
Raw whole ewe and/or goat milk[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Lamb or kid paste rennetAbout 30 cc per 15 litres of milk[pat-sheet]
SaltRubbed on dry[onaf-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 6 months

Start
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90–95 °C

What changes: Raw milk is boiled so its whey proteins clump and stay in the cheese

Step 1 of 5
Bring the raw milk to the boil
Time
Not documented
Temperature
90–95 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

The regional sheet says the raw milk is brought to the boil.

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 Molise shepherds' cheese made by first boiling raw ewe or goat milk, so the whey proteins stay in the curd with the casein. The milk is cooled to 36–38 °C and set with lamb or kid paste rennet in about an hour, broken to hazelnut size and put in rush baskets, then salted dry. It is eaten fresh or ripened about six months in dry cellars for grating. Made in 5 steps over 6 months. The longest step, drain and ripen on perforated boards, takes 6 months (ARSARP (Agenzia Regionale per lo Sviluppo Agr…). Mesophilic coccus-shaped lactic acid bacteria does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step6 monthsReported[pat-sheet]Drain and ripen on perforated boards
Temperature90–95 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Bring the raw milk to the boil

What makes this one different

The milk is boiled before the rennet goes in, so the whey proteins that would become ricotta stay in the cheese. It let shepherds on the move, with no fixed dairy, use that protein without making ricotta, which spoils quickly.

Season
Made from June to September (ONAF sheet)
Size
About 1 kg on average; basket-marked cylinder

Related ferments

Variants

  • FrescoNo rind; eaten young.
  • StagionatoAbout six months; a grating cheese with a brown rind.

Safety

The raw milk is brought to the boil before the rennet goes in.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet gives the Murat survey of 1806–1815, kept in the State Archive of Campobasso, as its evidence of tradition. The survey describes life in Molise under the French decade, including some communes on the Castel di Sangro to Lucera drove road. The ONAF sheet calls it the cheese of shepherds who graze their flocks and have no fixed place to make cheese, and says the name "cacio e ricotta" comes from its process, which sets both the casein and the whey proteins.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [pat-sheet] ARSARP (Agenzia Regionale per lo Sviluppo Agricolo, Rurale e della Pesca, Molise), L'atlante dei prodotti tradizionali del Molise, Cacio-ricottagov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF, Cacio-ricotta, technical sheet (PAT Molise)web
  3. [celano2022] Celano G., Costantino G., Calasso M., Randazzo C., Minervini F. 2022, Distinctive Traits of Four Apulian Traditional Agri-Food Product (TAP) Cheeses Manufactured at the Same Dairy Plant, Foods 11(3):425, doi:10.3390/foods11030425paper