10/31/2001

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Chow Line: Ricotta, cottage cheese not the same (for 11/18/01)

Writer:

Martha Filipic
filipic.3@osu.edu
(614)292-9833

Source:

Valente Alvarez

Someone told me that ricotta cheese is really just "Italian cottage cheese." Is that true?

Not quite. It is true that ricotta was first made in Italy and is classified as an Italian cheese. Also, recipes will often recommend substituting cottage cheese for ricotta, if necessary. Both are "fresh," or unripened, cheeses. They're both cooked at low temperatures to help them retain more whey, producing a soft cheese. And, they're both usually sold in the same type of round plastic containers. However, these are two distinct types of cheeses which are produced in different ways.

For one thing, ricotta cheese is traditionally made from whey -- the watery stuff from milk that's left over when making other kinds of cheese -- or from a combination of whey and whole or skim milk. In fact, "ricotta" means "recooked," referring to the notion that it's made by heating the whey that came from another cooked cheese. During production, the sweet whey is heated to a temperature of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Citric acid may be used to help separate the protein from the water in the whey.

Usually, ricotta cheese-makers will use the whey left over from making mozzarella or provolone, but whey from romano cheese-making is used for a special type of ricotta, "ricotta romana." The whey usually comes from cow's milk, but some types of ricotta are made with ewe's milk whey.

Ricotta is a soft cheese that has a fine, moist, grainy texture. Cottage cheese, on the other hand, can easily be described as "lumpy." Whether the curds are small or large, they're much bigger than the grainy ricotta cheese. The milk for commercial cottage cheese is set with starter culture and rennet, like other cheeses. However, unlike other cheeses, cottage cheese can be made by either a short or long-setting method. In the short-setting method, more lactic starter is added and milk is set at higher temperature to accelerate the coagulation. After the curds form and the cheese gets to the right texture, the whey is drained or rinsed off.

Cream is added to the curds to produce "creamed cottage cheese." For lowfat cottage cheese, 1 percent or 2 percent milk replaces the cream. Nonfat cottage cheese has skim milk added.

A half-cup of creamed cottage cheese contains about 115 calories, while 1 percent cottage cheese has about 80 calories. A half cup of ricotta cheese made with whole milk contains about 215 calories, but you can get ricotta made partly with skim milk for only 170 calories in a half-cup.

Chow Line is a service of The Ohio State University. Send questions to Chow Line, c/o Martha Filipic, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1044, or filipic.3@osu.edu.

Editor:

This column was reviewed by Valente Alvarez, associate professor of food science and technology at Ohio State University.