Special equipment: large sieve, fine-mesh cheesecloth.There are many recipes for homemade ricotta. Frederick pulled out a loaf of bread, poured the hot ricotta on top, and advised his party that “cut nonmancia ccu’ so’ cucchiaru lassa tutto ‘o zammataru” (Those who don’t eat with a spoon will leave all their ricotta behind). Professor Santi Correnti, chairman of the history department of the University of Catania and a well-known historian in Sicily, writes that during the reign of the Sicilian king, Frederick II, in the early thirteenth century, the king and his hunting party came across the hut of a dairy farmer making ricotta and asked for some. Ricotta cheese, which is generally recognized as having been invented in Sicily, is known in the language of the island by another name: zammatàru, a word in Sicilian meaning “dairy farmer.” This word is derived from the Arabic za’ama, meaning “cow,” leading to the supposition that ricotta might have its origins in the Arab-Sicilian era. Since ricotta is made primarily from lactose-rich whey, it should be avoided by those who are lactose-intolerant. It is also low in salt, even lower than cottage cheese. Ricotta is naturally low in fat, with a fat content ranging from 4 to 10 percent. The texture is much like a grainy, thick sour cream. Ricotta is a fresh, soft, snowy white cheese with a rich but mild, slightly sweet flavor. American ricotta is generally made with a combination of whey and whole, low-fat or skims cow’s milk. Ricotta is made from the whey drained from such cheeses as mozzarella, provolone, and other cheeses. Its name, ricotta, means cooked again, an obvious reference to the production method used to make it. Technically, ricotta is not a cheese at all, but a cheese by-product.
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