Ricotta
A versatile Italian whey cheese with ancient roots.
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The milk source determines the fat content of ricotta, and its texture is noticeably lighter than that of certain fresh cheeses.[1]
Key facts and history
Ceramic vessels called milk boilers appeared frequently in the second millennium BC and were designed to boil milk without letting it boil over.[2] Rennet-coagulated cheese production overtook fresh whole-milk cheeses during the first millennium BC.[3] Ancient Roman agricultural writers like Cato the Elder did not mention ricotta, likely because its short shelf life made it unprofitable for urban markets.[2] Ceramic milk boilers were still used by Apennine herders in the 19th century AD.[2]
Today, ricotta is produced by heating whey solution to near-boiling temperature with acid to coagulate whey protein.[4][5] Whole milk was likely used to create the fresh acid-coagulated cheeses made in those boilers.[2] A substantial quantity of sweet whey became available as a byproduct when rennet-coagulated cheese production grew.[2] To create the traditional ricotta recognized today, cheesemakers began combining whey with milk.[2]
While ricotta was probably eaten mainly by the herders who produced it, paintings and literature suggest Roman aristocrats also consumed it.[2]
What the cited sources add
The Culinary Heritage of Switzerland notes that in southern Switzerland a similar ricotta is often called mascarpa and was historically a mountain staple food.[6][7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Ricotta" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sargento® Part-Skim Ricotta Cheese", sargento.com, 13 January 2015; www.weightlossresources.co.uk, "Calories in Ricotta Cheese", Weight Loss Resources, 2016-04-29 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ricotta" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kindstedt, "Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and its Place in Western Civilization", Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ricotta" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kindstedt, "Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and its Place in Western Civilization", Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012; Johnson, "Effect of Rennet Coagulation Time on Composition, Yield, and Quality of Reduced-Fat Cheddar Cheese", Journal of Dairy Science, 2001, p. 1027–1033 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ricotta" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Patel, "Whey Protein", Examine, 28 September 2022; "Milk Composition – Proteins", Illinois.edu (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ricotta" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Formaggi tipici italiani: Ricotta Romana DOP", Agraria.org – Istruzione Agraria online (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Ricotta o mascarpa", Culinary Heritage of Switzerland. facts only, no text reused. patrimoineculinaire.ch
- Wikipedia, "Ricotta" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Ricotta o mascarpa", Culinary Heritage of Switzerland (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Ricotta (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Ricotta (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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