"There is no love sincerer than the love of food." — George Bernard Shaw

One of the best things about living in Italy, Emilia Romagna, Parma, Colorno is the ability to drive, or even bike ride, to the local farm and buy fresh cheese. The other day, Brittany, Arina and I drove to Caseificio San Salvatore where we previously saw the making of Parmigiano Reggiano and bought freshly made ricotta. Ricotta is technically a whey cheese, made from the leftover liquid from the Parmigiano Reggiano production. The previous evening's part-skim milk is mixed with the morning's whole milk with rennet (stomach lining from the slaughtered cow which is washed, dried and chopped into a powder and preserved with sea salt) which causes the milk to coagulate - changing the structure from liquid to jelly-like. As the temperatures rise, curds form which will become the Parmigiano Reggiano. The heavy curds sink to the bottom of the copper cauldron and the whey on top will weigh down on the curds for about an hour until it has cooled. Then, the Parmigiano Reggiano curds are lifted out to be molded and the whey is vacuumed out. The whey is then recooked (the literal meaning of ricotta) until it creates its own cheese curd. 

The fresh ricotta is so moist and soft in the mouth, it delicately melts on the tongue. It exudes evocations of the country land and tastes distinctly of the cow. As much as it reminds me of the farm just down the road, I can't help but taste something sweetly ethereal, almost like a home-made marshmallow. It is delicious on bread, stuffed in zucchini flowers, eaten as a herby dip with celery, or just plain irresistible to eat it straight out of the tub with a spoon - if my fingers can grab a spoon fast enough before delving in...

I don't know why I haven't gone to S. Salvatore more throughout the year given it's locality, convenience, and deliciousness....damn. But I feel spoiled already, almost undeserving, just having this opportunity.