Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from Italy, Campania

Ricotta fresca ed essiccata di pecora

A heat-and-acid-set boundary entry, not a microbial ferment. Sheep whey from cheesemaking, with a little salt and raw milk, is heated to 85–90 °C with a splash of soured farm whey until the flakes rise; they drain a few hours in small wicker or plastic baskets. It is eaten very fresh, or dry-salted and dried for 10–30 days into a firm ricotta for grating.

Fully documentedCheese10 days – 30 daysPAT (traditional agri-food product, Campania; listed with the goat ricotta)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give the method, not a batch recipe. Each fresh ricotta weighs about 200 g.
Sheep whey left from sheep cheese making[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Raw whole milkONAF gives about 10% of the whey volume; its sheet says goat milk here, the same wording as the goat ricotta, while the regional page only says raw milk[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
SaltA little in the whey if a lightly salted fresh ricotta is wanted; coarse salt on the surface for the dried type[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Soured farm whey (sieroinnesto), pH 4–4.5[onaf-sheet]
Starternone; heat and soured whey make the curd

Total time across the recorded steps: 10 days – 30 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
65 °C

What changes: Sheep whey is heated and raw milk is stirred in at about 65 °C

Step 1 of 5
Heat the whey and add milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
65 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The whey is heated by steam or direct fire, with a little salt if wanted.

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. Sheep whey from cheesemaking, with a little salt and raw milk, is heated to 85–90 °C with a splash of soured farm whey until the flakes rise; they drain a few hours in small wicker or plastic baskets. It is eaten very fresh, or dry-salted and dried for 10–30 days into a firm ricotta for grating. Made in 5 steps over 10 days – 30 days. The longest step, dry-salt and dry (essiccata), takes 10–30 days (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…) and runs at 10–15 °C (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…).

Key numbers
Main step10–30 daysReported[onaf-sheet]Dry-salt and dry (essiccata)
Temperature10–15 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Dry-salt and dry (essiccata)
AciditypH 4–4.5Reported[onaf-sheet]Add soured whey and let the flakes rise

What makes this one different

Made exactly like the Campanian goat ricotta, but from sheep whey; the regional page finds it sweeter and more delicate, creamy and almost spongy. It is sold fresh or dry-salted and dried.

Size
Small truncated cone of about 200 g
Rind
Fresh none, white; dried a very thin ivory skin

Related ferments

Variants

  • FrescaUnsalted or lightly salted, eaten warm or within days
  • EssiccataDry-salted and dried 10–30 days at 10–15 °C; grated

Safety

The ONAF sheet calls the process safe because it uses high temperatures (85–90 °C) and clean, well-washed baskets that are not reused. The fresh ricotta is kept at 2–6 °C and eaten within days.

History and sources

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

History
The sources we found do not record its history.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura, Prodotti tradizionali, page «Ricotta fresca ed essiccata di capra e di pecora» (updated 6 August 2015; copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet «Ricotta fresca ed essiccata di pecora»web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page «Ricotta fresca ed essiccata di pecora» (id 1205)web