milk type
Cow
ingredients
MILK, salt, rennet
coagulant
Animal Rennet
milk treatment
Raw
location
Evercreech, Somserset
milk source
Own herd; Bought-in
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milk type
Cow
ingredients
MILK, salt, rennet
coagulant
Animal Rennet
milk treatment
Raw
location
Evercreech, Somserset
milk source
Own herd; Bought-in
breed
Holstein; Dairy Shorthorn
season
All year
average age
Fresh Cheese
cheesemakers
Rob Howard; The Calver Family
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Westcombe Ricotta puts to good use what would usually be seen as a waste product: the whey left behind from the make of Westcombe Cheddar
Background
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Serving Suggestions
Top toasted bread with Ricotta, smoked salmon and a scattering of fresh dill.
Recipes
Cheese & apricot stuffed blini
One of the most comforting dishes that speaks of family traditions and works fantastically well as a breakfast dish as well as a desert after dinner.Cannon of lamb with tomatoes & ricotta
Grilled summer lamb with beautiful ricotta and a quick red onion pickle.Ricotta Honey Cheesecake with Pistachios
A sweet, indulgent pudding riddled with pistachios and topped with fresh honeycomb.FAQs
As a general rule of thumb, we would recommend roughly between 100 and 150 grams per person for after dinner, and a bit more if cheese is the focus of the meal. If you are buying cheese to serve over a couple of days or as part of a buffet, it is advisable to buy a few larger pieces. This will both look better and keep better than many small bits. To help visualise weights, a good tip is to consider that a regular supermarket pat of butter weighs between 200 and 250 grams. If you are at all unsure please give us a call for some advice.
The best option is to keep your cheese wrapped in its paper within a box in the fridge. This will prevent the cheese from drying out and absorbing other flavours. Your cheese will arrive wrapped in waxed cheese paper, which achieves the best possible balance between maintaining humidity around the cheese and allowing it to breathe. We are happy to provide some free extra cheese paper, just search for "cheese paper" and add it to your basket. We don't recommend cling film or foil as it can cause the cheese to sweat which will negatively affect the flavour.

Westcombe Ricotta
A cow’s milk Ricotta with a moussier, lighter texture than is typical of many continental versions, but with rich, savouriness and long-lasting cooked flavours


Westcombe Ricotta puts to good use what would usually be seen as a waste product: the whey left behind from the make of Westcombe Cheddar
milk type
Cow
ingredients
MILK, salt, rennet
coagulant
Animal Rennet
milk treatment
Raw
location
Evercreech, Somserset
milk source
Own herd; Bought-in
breed
Holstein; Dairy Shorthorn
season
All year
average age
Fresh Cheese
cheesemakers
Rob Howard; The Calver Family
background
Westcombe Ricotta is produced from the whey left over from Tom Calver's make of Westcombe Cheddar. The removal of whey – the liquid component of milk – is a fundamental part of coagulating milk. It is commonly discarded by the cheesemaker as a waste product, due in large part to its acid properties and its sheer volume. But while the majority of whey is water, held in solution are a great diversity of bacteria, enzymes and proteins, packed with potential. Tom will heat a batch of whey for a prolonged period until its proteins denature and begin to coagulate into fragile white clumps. Once solid enough to be moulded, the coagulated proteins are salted and then ladled into colander-like moulds and the liquid allowed to drain off. Moisture will slowly continue to drain out as the ricotta sits in its mould.
pairing suggestion
Top toasted bread with Ricotta, smoked salmon and a scattering of fresh dill.