and forming soft, white curds. To make high-quality ricotta,
these curds are then carefully removed from the whey (too
much mechanical action can turn them rubbery) and
allowed to drain, reducing their water content and
concentrating their flavor and richness. The result is mind-
blowingly simple yet decadent. Or at least it should be. The
reality is that pretty much all mass-market ricotta producers
don’t bother to take the time to drain their cheese properly.
Instead, they load the stuff up with gums and stabilizers
intended to keep the water (and thus their profits) from
leaking out.
What you get is a gritty, gluey, rubbery paste. No thank
you. Homemade ricotta, though, when made right, is
creamy and tender with a mild, milky flavor and a slight
tang from the acid used to curdle it. In fact, I like ricotta
made at home with whole milk better than a traditional low-
fat whey-produced ricotta. How do you like that?
With homemade ricotta, the single most important
variable in terms of both flavor and texture is the acid you
add to the mix.
- Buttermilk has many advocates, who claim it’s the tastiest
acid of choice. I had problems with it. In order to get the
milk to curdle properly, I had to add buttermilk at nearly a
1:4 ratio, resulting in a final product with a very distinct
sour flavor. It wasn’t bad per se, but the flavor certainly
limited its applications: I couldn’t imagine stuffing it into
ravioli, for instance. And the curd structure was also ever-
so-slightly overdeveloped, giving the ricotta a sticky
texture.