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Cheese from Italy, Sardegna

Ricotta moliternaRicottone

Ricotta moliterna is a boundary entry, set by heat, not by microbes. Whey left from Sardinian sheep cheese is heated with stirring to about 60–70 °C, then to 85–90 °C, and the flakes firm for 20–30 minutes before going into cone-shaped moulds. It is pressed about 24 hours, dry-salted and dried 15–20 days in airy rooms.

Fully documentedCheese16 days – 21 daysPAT (traditional agri-food product, Sardegna)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give the method, not a batch recipe. Each ricotta weighs about 1.2–3.5 kg.
Whey from sheep cheese (pecorino) makingSarda breed sheep; filtered through a cloth[laore-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Fine sea saltOne or two passes of dry salt[laore-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starternone; heat makes the curd

Total time across the recorded steps: 16 days – 21 days

Start
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60–70 °C

What changes: The sheep whey is stirred and heated to about 60–70 °C

Step 1 of 5
Heat the whey with stirring
Time
Not documented
Temperature
60–70 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The whey stays in the vat where the pecorino curd was made, or goes back in after filtering through a cloth.

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 moliterna is a boundary entry, set by heat, not by microbes. Whey left from Sardinian sheep cheese is heated with stirring to about 60–70 °C, then to 85–90 °C, and the flakes firm for 20–30 minutes before going into cone-shaped moulds. It is pressed about 24 hours, dry-salted and dried 15–20 days in airy rooms. Made in 5 steps over 16 days – 21 days. The longest step, dry in airy rooms, takes 15–20 days (Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural develop…).

Key numbers
Main step15–20 daysReported[laore-sheet][onaf-sheet]Dry in airy rooms
Temperature60–70 °CReported[laore-sheet][onaf-sheet]Heat the whey with stirring

What makes this one different

One of the Sardinian "ricottoni", salted and dried ricottas. Moliterna is pressed in a truncated-cone mould and dried 15–20 days; testa di morto is pressed in a twisted cloth sack, toscanella is a larger cylinder and mustia is smoked. Italian Wikipedia describes ricotta in general as the whey proteins (albumin and globulin), not the casein, set by heating the whey to 80–90 °C.

Rind
None; white
Size
Truncated cone about 13.5 cm across the top, 18 cm at the base and 15 cm high
Weight
About 1.2–3.5 kg
Season
Made all year

Related ferments

Safety

The whey is heated to 85–90 °C, the ricotta is salted and dried, and the vacuum-packed product is kept in cold rooms.

History and sources

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

Fresh ricotta has been made in Sardinia for as long as sheep milk has been made into cheese there. Both sheets cite A. Vodret (Scienza e Tecnica Lattiero-Casearia, 1970) for the method.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [laore-sheet] Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural development agency), Prodotto tradizionale della Sardegna, sheet 'Ricotta moliterna'gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Ricotta moliterna'web
  3. [it-wp-ricotta] Wikipedia (Italian), Ricotta (an outline; used only for the general statements that ricotta is made from whey proteins, not casein, by heating whey to 80–90 °C)wiki