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Cheese from Italy, Friuli Venezia Giulia

Ricotta affumicata di malgaScuete fumade

Ricotta is a boundary entry, set by heat and acid, not by microbes. On the summer pastures the whey left from malga cheese is heated in the copper vat to 80–90 °C, and magnesium sulphate, citric acid or a herbal "sitz" makes the whey proteins rise. The ricotta drains in cloth bags, is lightly pressed, dry-salted for one or two days and smoked over a wood fire for one or two days.

Fully documentedCheese2 days – 4 daysPAT (traditional agri-food product, Friuli Venezia Giulia, ERSA list no. 162)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give the method, not a batch recipe. Each ricotta weighs 200–500 g.
Whey from malga cheeseMay be topped up with milk, buttermilk or risen cream[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Magnesium sulphate ("sal di canal") or citric acidOr "sitz", whey with magnesium sulphate and bitter forest herbs kept for years in a small wooden keg[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Dry salt[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Wood for the smoke[pat-sheet]
Starternone; heat and a coagulating aid make the curd

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 days – 4 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: warm whey left in the copper vat after malga cheesemaking

Step 1 of 7
Keep the whey
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The whey from the malga cheese stays in the same copper vat and may be topped up with milk, buttermilk or cream.

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 acid, not by microbes. On the summer pastures the whey left from malga cheese is heated in the copper vat to 80–90 °C, and magnesium sulphate, citric acid or a herbal "sitz" makes the whey proteins rise. The ricotta drains in cloth bags, is lightly pressed, dry-salted for one or two days and smoked over a wood fire for one or two days. Made in 7 steps over 2 days – 4 days. The longest step, dry-salt, takes 24 h – 2 days (ERSA (Agenzia regionale per lo sviluppo rural…).

Key numbers
Main step24 h – 2 daysReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Dry-salt
Temperature80–90 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Heat the whey

What makes this one different

It is made on the summer pastures in the same copper vat as the malga cheese, and set with magnesium sulphate or the herbal sitz, a practice the ERSA sheet calls old and documented. Pressed harder and smoked longer, it becomes a drier grating cheese.

Shape and size
Slightly conical, 200–500 g
Season
July to September, on the summer pastures

Related ferments

Variants

  • Fresh smokedLightly pressed and smoked one or two days; eaten within 2–3 days.
  • Da grattugia (for grating)Pressed harder and smoked longer; harder and drier, kept for months.

Safety

The ERSA sheet asks that the heating temperature, matched to the acidity, sanitise the ricotta, and that drying in the smokehouse lower moisture enough to stop unwanted microbes.

History and sources

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

The ERSA sheet says smoked ricotta has always been made alongside malga cheese. It cites Giuseppe Faleschini's survey "L'Alpeggio in Carnia" (Regione Friuli-Venezia Giulia, October 1970), which describes a method with no real difference from today's. Rules on the use of high pastures go back to the Patriarchs of Aquileia (11th–15th centuries).

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] ERSA (Agenzia regionale per lo sviluppo rurale, Friuli Venezia Giulia), Prodotti tradizionali, «Ricotta affumicata di malga» (n. 162; page printed 22 August 2017; copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet «Ricotta affumicata di malga»web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page «Ricotta affumicata di malga» (id 400)web