Ricotta cheese salaprese

In all the areas of Campania with a high practice of transhumance, in particular in the province of Avellino, Caserta, Salerno, Benevento, is produced a type of ricotta cheese called "salaprese". There are no certain theories about the origin of this name, but it is presumably connected to the technique of preserving the product, under salt, a practice widely used to preserve easily perishable products. In order to make ricotta cheese, the classic technique is followed, which has remained unchanged over the years, although nowadays either sheep or bovine milk is used, whereas the typical ricotta salaprese was obtained with sheep milk only. In the past, only unsold ricotta was used for salting, and it was put to dry in the air in a cool, dry place after having been repeatedly treated with medium-grain ground salt. Drying took place under cotton cloths in order to keep flies away; once dried, ricotta was put on special racks or boards and hung in a cool place in order to prevent it from being eaten by mice.