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Cheese from Italy, Puglia

Ricotta marzotica leccese

Ricotta marzotica leccese is a boundary entry, set by heat and the whey's own acidity, not by microbes. Whey is heated slowly over a fire to 78–82 °C, and the flakes are ladled into baskets in layers with fine salt and drained at 15–25 °C. Once firm, the ricotta is rolled in fresh spring grasses and ripened in cool, airy rooms.

Fully documentedCheese23 days – 34 daysPAT (traditional agri-food product, Puglia); entry 328 of the Puglia section of the 2022 national listFamily: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give the method, not a batch recipe. Each ricotta weighs 0.5–2.0 kg.
Whey from sheep, goat, cow or mixed cheesemakingFiltered through a fine-mesh strainer[puglia-pat][onaf-sheet]
Fine saltAdded in small amounts, in layers, as the ricotta goes into the baskets[puglia-pat][onaf-sheet]
Fresh local grasses (couch grass, ryegrass)Rolled onto the surface (inerbimento)[puglia-pat][onaf-sheet]
Starternone; heat and the whey's own acidity make the curd

Total time across the recorded steps: 23 days – 34 days

Start
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78–82 °C

What changes: The whey is stirred and heated slowly over a fire to 78–82 °C

Step 1 of 6
Heat the whey over the fire
Time
Not documented
Temperature
78–82 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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 marzotica leccese is a boundary entry, set by heat and the whey's own acidity, not by microbes. Whey is heated slowly over a fire to 78–82 °C, and the flakes are ladled into baskets in layers with fine salt and drained at 15–25 °C. Once firm, the ricotta is rolled in fresh spring grasses and ripened in cool, airy rooms. Made in 6 steps over 23 days – 34 days. The longest step, ripen in cool rooms, takes 10–20 days (Regione Puglia) and runs at 11–14 °C (Regione Puglia).

Key numbers
Main step10–20 daysReported[puglia-pat][onaf-sheet]Ripen in cool rooms
Temperature11–14 °CReported[puglia-pat][onaf-sheet]Ripen in cool rooms

What makes this one different

The grass coat sets it apart from other salted Apulian ricottas. It is made only in spring, when ewes graze new grass, and is named for the month of its biggest production.

Rind
Thin, wrinkled, more or less tender, covered with grass
Size
Truncated cone or cylinder, 10–15 cm across and 7–15 cm high
Weight
0.5–2.0 kg
Season
Spring, mid-February to May

Related ferments

Safety

The Puglia sheet lists the wooden tools, rush baskets and grasses as hygiene risks met by careful cleaning and by discarding any ricotta with an odd colour, smell or taste. It is sold in closed plastic bags.

History and sources

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

The ONAF sheet says Girolamo Manciano (1571–1628), as it spells the name, mentions the product in his encyclopedic account of the province of Otranto. It adds that no written documents were found, because the process was handed down from generation to generation, and that the method has been in use for longer than the 25 years the PAT list requires.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [puglia-pat] Regione Puglia, Scheda identificativa per l'Elenco dei Prodotti Tradizionali 'Ricotta marzotica leccese' (schede A and B)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Ricotta marzotica leccese'web
  3. [pat-national] MiPAAF, Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali ai sensi dell'articolo 12, comma 1, della legge 12 dicembre 2016, n. 238, Allegato I (22nd revision, 2022; copy hosted by Regione Puglia, veg.biodiversitapuglia.it)gov