Making Fresh Ricotta Cheese From Scratch in Soriano
| Title: | Making Fresh Ricotta Cheese From Scratch in Soriano | |||||||
| Category: | Cultural Experiences on Our Soriano Vacations | |||||||
| Author: | Daniele Pintaudi | Updated: | Jan 30, 2019 | Views: | 6,868 | |||
| Tags: | making cheese in italy making ricotta in italy making cheese tour cheese tour pecorino cheese make pecorino in italy | |||||||
Making fresh Ricotta cheese is possibly one of the most amazing experiences our guests enjoy. It is one of those "back to basics" experiences that can hardly be described, but it is one our guests never forget. So we do it every chance we get!
We don't just make it, but we use what we made in our cooking classes!
On our Soriano vacations, a local Shepard from Sardegna will come to visit us at the villa one day on most weeks. He lives in the valley below Soriano, where he raises several hundred sheep. Each morning he wakes up, milks all of his sheep by hand, makes Ricotta cheese the old fashioned way, and sells it to the local markets. He then spends the rest of his day with his grazing sheep. When he visits us, he will bring some of the day's milk. We'll light a fire under a gigantic pot outside and start the process of making our cheese.
The first cheese that is produced is called "Caciotta". It is very similar to Mozzarella in feel and taste when it is fresh. We'll taste some and set some aside. Part of what we set aside will be used in our pizza class for one of the pizzas we make. We'll also form some in wheels that we will allow to age.
When you visit our cellar, you will see there is an area where we age our own Pecorino Cheese. This is made from the Caciotta we made with past guests! During the week, you will also be eating cheese that has been aging in our cellar and was made by our past guests.
Once the Caciotta is made, we start the process once again with the remaining milk. The word "Ricotta" means "Re-Cooked". It is the second cheese made from the milk that becomes the Ricotta. Once our cheese has formed, we will drain it. This is the Ricotta that we will first taste with some honey, then serve with our dinner that night.
If we are making ravioli in one of the cooking classes, we will use some of the Ricotta we made. We'll even use it for some of our pizza. But nothing compares to when we eat the fresh, warm ricotta, having just made it, with a pinch of salt and some honey!