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Cheese from Italy, Toscana

Ricotta di pecora massese

A heat-and-acid-set boundary entry, not a microbial ferment. Whey left from local pecorino is heated with a little fresh milk, salt and an acidifier to 80–85 °C until the flakes rise; they are skimmed into perforated moulds and drained on wooden boards. Most is sold in 300 g tubs, but on summer pastures shepherds drain it well and wrap it in woven beech twigs and leaves.

Fully documentedCheese5 min – 10 minPAT (traditional agri-food product, Toscana)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give the method, not a batch recipe. It is sold in 300 g tubs; four main producers make about 192 quintals a year.
Sheep whey left from pecorino making[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Fresh sheep milkThe regional sheet adds fresh milk to the whey; ONAF does not list it[pat-sheet]
Salt[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
AcidifierAcid whey from earlier makes, or citric acid, lactic acid or other permitted acids[onaf-sheet]
Young beech twigs and leaves (sometimes hornbeam)Only for the summer pasture type[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starternone; heat and an acidifier make the curd

Total time across the recorded steps: 5 min – 10 min

Start
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What changes: Starting material: sheep whey left from pecorino, strained into the vat

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

Whey from pecorino making is strained through a mesh into a tinned copper or steel vat.

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 heat-and-acid-set boundary entry, not a microbial ferment. Whey left from local pecorino is heated with a little fresh milk, salt and an acidifier to 80–85 °C until the flakes rise; they are skimmed into perforated moulds and drained on wooden boards. Most is sold in 300 g tubs, but on summer pastures shepherds drain it well and wrap it in woven beech twigs and leaves. Made in 6 steps over 5 min – 10 min. The longest step, let the flakes rise, takes 5–10 min (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…).

Key numbers
Main step5–10 minReported[onaf-sheet]Let the flakes rise
Temperature80–85 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Heat with milk, salt and acid

What makes this one different

The summer pasture ricotta is drained hard and wrapped in woven beech twigs and leaves, which makes it creamier, less sour and longer-keeping than the tub ricotta, because more whey and lactose are gone.

Size
Truncated cone, sold in 300 g tubs
Rind
None; white with small basket marks

Related ferments

Variants

  • In tubDrained in moulds and sold in 300 g tubs
  • Leaf-wrapped (alpeggio)Drained well and wrapped in woven beech twigs and leaves on summer pastures, June to August

Safety

Kept at 0–4 °C. The regional sheet notes that draining off the whey and lactose helps the leaf- wrapped ricotta keep longer.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet credits the ricotta's character to an unchanged method and to the milk of the local Massese sheep breed.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Toscana (ARSIA), Prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, sheet «Ricotta di pecora massese» (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet «Ricotta di pecora Massese»web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page «Ricotta di pecora Massese» (id 956)web