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Cheese from Italy, Sardegna

Ricotta testa di mortoRicotta greca

Ricotta testa di morto is a boundary entry, set by heat, not by microbes. Sheep whey is heated to about 60–70 °C with stirring, then to 85–90 °C, and the flakes go into a cloth tied into a sack that is beaten, squeezed and twisted for 20–24 hours into a ball. The ball is dry-salted and dried, hanging in nets, for about 20–30 days.

Fully documentedCheese21 days – 31 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 2.5–3.2 kg.
Whey from sheep cheese (pecorino) makingSarda breed sheep; filtered through a cloth[laore-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Fine saltOne or two passes of dry salt[laore-sheet][onaf-sheet]
StarterHeat makes the curd.

Total time across the recorded steps: 21 days – 31 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
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 testa di morto is a boundary entry, set by heat, not by microbes. Sheep whey is heated to about 60–70 °C with stirring, then to 85–90 °C, and the flakes go into a cloth tied into a sack that is beaten, squeezed and twisted for 20–24 hours into a ball. The ball is dry-salted and dried, hanging in nets, for about 20–30 days. Made in 5 steps over 21 days – 31 days. The longest step, dry hanging in nets, takes 20–30 days (Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural develop…).

Key numbers
Main step20–30 daysReported[laore-sheet][onaf-sheet]Dry hanging in nets
Temperature60–70 °CReported[laore-sheet][onaf-sheet]Heat the whey with stirring

What makes this one different

A Sardinian salted ricotta drained and pressed in a cloth sack. The flakes go into cloth-lined cylindrical moulds, the cloth is tied into a sack, beaten on a table, hung and twisted tighter, which gives the rounded shape. 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, marked by the cloth
Size
Round to oval ball 17–25 cm across
Weight
2.5–3.2 kg
Season
All year, most often November to July

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

The sheets point to dated sales invoices at least 25–30 years old and to A. Vodret (Scienza e Tecnica Lattiero-Casearia, 1970).

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [laore-sheet] Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural development agency), Prodotto tradizionale della Sardegna, sheet 'Ricotta testa di morto'gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Ricotta testa di morto'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