One of the unexpected pleasures of my job is developing ongoing e-mail exchanges with readers. These are usually triggered by questions or concerns, wishing to share stories of cheese-related activities or simply feedback on articles we've put out there.

Some time last year, I received an e-mail from a lovely Italian lady, Paola, now living in the Philadelphia area. Paola was homesick for good Italian ricotta and wrote to ask if we knew of any sources of either domestically produced or imported ricotta that might assuage her craving. She had tried Bellwether Farm's ricotta and loved it, but it was hard to find on the east coast in good condition, so then started buying Calabro hand-dipped ricotta, which sadly she can no longer find.

During this e-mail exchange, I suggested that Paola might like to experiment making her own ricotta at home using the Culture ricotta recipe featured in our Spring 2009 issue. Happily it turned out really well and here are some photos of the results.

Next on the home-made agenda is crescenza..!