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Cheese from Italy, Friuli Venezia Giulia

Ricotta di capra (Friuli Venezia Giulia)

Ricotta is a boundary entry, set by heat and acid, not by microbes. Whey from local goat cheese, in some areas with 5–8 % whole milk added, is heated to 85 °C, and citric acid may help the proteins flake. The ricotta drains in baskets and is eaten within 2–3 days, or pressed in cloth bags and smoked for about 48 hours over local woods.

Fully documentedCheese2 daysPAT (traditional agri-food product, Friuli Venezia Giulia, ERSA list no. 163)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe sheets give the method, not a batch recipe. Fresh cones are about 15 cm high and 8–10 cm across the base; each ricotta weighs 200–500 g in the ONAF sheet.
Whey from local goat cheese[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Whole goat milk5–8 % (in some areas)[pat-sheet]
Citric acid (optional)[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Local herbs (flavoured type)[onaf-sheet]
Beech and hazel wood, or juniper and fir branches (smoked type)[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starternone; heat, with citric acid if needed, makes the curd

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: goat whey from cheesemaking, sometimes with a little whole milk

Step 1 of 6
Filter the whey
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Whey from the goat cheese is filtered and stays in the same vat; in some areas 5–8 % whole milk is added.

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. Whey from local goat cheese, in some areas with 5–8 % whole milk added, is heated to 85 °C, and citric acid may help the proteins flake. The ricotta drains in baskets and is eaten within 2–3 days, or pressed in cloth bags and smoked for about 48 hours over local woods. Made in 6 steps over 2 days. The longest step, press and smoke (smoked type), takes 2 days (ERSA (Agenzia regionale per lo sviluppo rural…).

Key numbers
Main step2 daysReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Press and smoke (smoked type)
Temperature85 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Heat to 85 °C

What makes this one different

A goat-whey ricotta from a region where goat milk was long worked in the summer dairies with cow milk. It is sold three ways from one whey, plain, with local herbs, or smoked about two days over beech, hazel or juniper.

Fresh shape
Truncated cone about 15 cm high and 8–10 cm across the base
Smoked shape
Semi-pressed oval loaves
Weight
200–500 g (ONAF)
Season
November to August (ONAF)

Related ferments

Variants

  • FrescaDrained in baskets; eaten within 2–3 days.
  • AromatizzataLocal herbs mixed in while it is moulded.
  • AffumicataPressed in cloth bags and smoked about 48 hours; keeps a few months.

Safety

The ONAF sheet says fresh ricotta is kept in a cold room and eaten within 2–3 days.

History and sources

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

The ERSA sheet cites a 1914 article by Giambattista Gaspardis in the Bullettino della Associazione Agraria Friulana, which says all goat milk not drunk went into ricotta and cheese, and a 1967 text that names fresh and smoked goat ricotta made in the summer dairies.

  1. [pat-sheet] ERSA (Agenzia regionale per lo sviluppo rurale, Friuli Venezia Giulia), Prodotti tradizionali, «Ricotta di capra» (n. 163; page printed 22 August 2017; copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet «Ricotta di capra»web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page «Ricotta di capra» (id 401)web