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Cheese from Italy, Calabria

Ricottone salato

Ricottone is a boundary entry, set by heat, not by microbes. Sheep, goat or cow whey is heated in a tinned copper cauldron to about 80–90 °C with salt and a little milk, and the flakes drain a whole day in rush baskets. The ricotta is then dry-salted for at least a week and ripened about 2 months in a cool dark room, and can be aged up to a year.

Fully documentedCheese2.3 months – 12 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product, Calabria; code F-18)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give the method, not a batch size or doses. A ricottone weighs 500–1000 g.
Whey from sheep-goat and/or cow cheesemaking, filtered through a mesh strainer[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Milk (optional), of the same kinds[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Coarse salt, in the whey and later rubbed on dry[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
StarterHeat and acid set the curd; ONAF calls it thermo-acid coagulation.

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.3 months – 12 months

Start
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65 °C

What changes: Salt and a little milk go into the whey as it warms to about 65 °C

Step 1 of 5
Filter and warm the whey
Time
Not documented
Temperature
65 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Coarse salt and, if used, milk go in at this point.

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

Ricottone is a boundary entry, set by heat, not by microbes. Sheep, goat or cow whey is heated in a tinned copper cauldron to about 80–90 °C with salt and a little milk, and the flakes drain a whole day in rush baskets. The ricotta is then dry-salted for at least a week and ripened about 2 months in a cool dark room, and can be aged up to a year. Made in 5 steps over 2.3 months – 12 months. The longest step, ripen and age, takes 2–12 months (Regione Calabria).

Key numbers
Main step2–12 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen and age
Temperature65 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Filter and warm the whey

What makes this one different

A Calabrian way to keep ricotta that could not be sold fresh, by salting it dry for a week and ripening it for months. It is often made by the same farmers who keep the animals and sold directly.

Size
Cylinder about 20 cm long and 10 cm across, 500–1000 g
Rind
Rough, with basket marks; brownish
Season
March to September in the regional sheet; March to November in the ONAF sheet

Related ferments

Safety

The whey is heated to 80–90 °C. The ONAF sheet lists the risks of unpasteurised whey and milk (total bacteria, somatic cells and Staphylococcus aureus), tinned copper, wooden tools and the ageing rooms. It says the milk problems can be overcome by checking the milk (or thermising or pasteurising it), good hygiene, and discarding any product that looks abnormal.

Hazards the sources name: Staphylococcus aureus, a risk the ONAF sheet names for unpasteurised whey and milk.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet says that traditionally a part of the ricotta was eaten fresh or smoked and aged, a custom that arose from the need to keep the fresh ricotta that could not be sold in time. The ONAF sheet says that long ago shepherds in distant mountain areas kept the unsold fresh ricotta by salting and ageing it, to sell at local markets.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Calabria, Prodotti agro-alimentari tradizionali, sheet F-18 'Ricottone salato' (scanned copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Ricottone salato'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Ricottone salato' (id 1135)web