[Sca-cooks] Cream cheese?

[Sharon Palmer]

>-----Original Message-----
>>the king and his hunting party came across the hut of a dairy
>>farmer making ricotta and, being ravenous, asked for some. Frederick pulled
>out his bread loaf, poured the hot ricotta and whey on top
>
>That sounds more like curds and whey than ricotta, which is made *from*
>whey.
>
>Ranvaig
>
>It says that the farmer is making ricotta not that it was ricotta and it
>sounds like the product is in the cooking stage, so yes, curds and whey.
>Ricotta is curds without the whey.
>
>De
>

I wonder if there might be a translation issue here.  Does the 
original really use the word "ricotta"? Because ricotta is 
specifically made from the leftover whey after other cheesemaking.

 From wikipedia:
Ricotta is an Italian dairy product made from sheep (or cow, goat, 
buffalo) milk whey left over from the production of cheese. Although 
typically referred to as ricotta cheese, ricotta is not properly a 
cheese because it is not produced by coagulation of casein. Rather it 
is made by coagulating other milk proteins, notably albumin and 
globulin, left over in the whey that separates from the milk during 
the production of cheese. In fact, ricotta is safely eaten by 
individuals with casein intolerance.
Ricotta (literally meaning "recooked") uses the whey, a limpid, 
low-fat, nutritious liquid that is a by-product of cheese production. 
Most of the milk protein (especially casein) is removed when cheese 
is made, but some protein remains in the whey, mostly albumin. This 
remaining protein can be harvested if the whey is first allowed to 
become more acidic by additional fermentation (by letting it sit for 
12-24 hours at room temperature). Then the acidified whey is heated 
to near boiling. The combination of low pH and high temperature 
denatures the protein and causes it to precipitate out, forming a 
fine curd. Once cooled, the curd is separated by passing through a 
fine cloth.

Ranvaig