Brus from Ricotta Cheese is a fermented sheep's cheese to which chilly or coarsely crushed black pepper is sometimes added. It is round and a uniform cream in colour, and may have multi-coloured holes due to the aromas used. It weighs between 150-200 g. It has no crust and has only a dry thickening on the surface. The cheese dough is crumbly, soft and slightly grainy. The smell is delicate in the young products and becomes more intense in when aged. The taste is pronounced and marked, especially if aromatized with chilly or black pepper.
Production Area
All over Piedmont
How it is made
The recipe starts from a few days old ricotta cheeses that are cleaned from possible surface moulds and placed in a plastic food container where the cheeses are worked on to make a smooth cream. As a rule, a portion of ricotta Brus that already matured, is added to the "young" ricotta cheeses. The container is kept in the ripening room at a temperature of 8-10°C. Other "young" ricotta cheeses are added to fill up the container, followed by a churning of the mass for at least 30-40 days. After this the Brus will have acquired the right smoothness and softness to be packed. The possible addition of spirits (grappa or wine) normally is not foreseen for the Brus di ricotta but a bit of milk may possibly be added to make the cheese dough softer.
History
There are oral testimonies of a very ancient tradition.
