Saurnschotte
Saurnschotte
The name means sour ricotta in the German of Sappada, and the stuff looks the part, white, fresh, with no rind or set shape, but it is not a ricotta at all: it is a fresh cheese set by acid coagulation from raw whole cow's milk, with salt, pepper and tarragon. That tarragon is the point. Perschtroum, the mountain tarragon that grows wild along the edges of Sappada's pastures and woods, is gathered in summer and kept in salt for the year, and the village holds that ordinary tarragon will not do in its place.
Designation
- Certification
- Slow Food Presidium
- Category
- Cheeses
Where it is made
Sappada, at the head of the Piave valley, in the Dolomites
How it is made
Coagulation is slow, some hours, driven by the dairy's own starter: the lactose goes to lactic acid, the rising acidity denatures the caseins and the curd forms in clumps, warmth helping it along within limits.