email this
print thisSAVE AND SHARE
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Cheese of the Month
Amid the recent fervor for artisan cheesemaking, mild-mannered ricotta has largely been left behind in the firm embrace of big industry's plastic tubs. In a little storefront on East Passyunk Avenue, however, Philip Mancuso remains a notable holdout: the last of South Philly's masters of handmade ricotta.
The Italian matrons who came to buy fresh curds for their ravioli and cheesecakes since Mancuso's father, Lucio, founded this cozy storefront in 1940, are fewer and far between. But Mancuso still makes it fresh weekly, storing tall clouds of the cheese in a glass refrigerator behind his counter. And it's a good thing. Ricotta, at last, may finally be having its restaurant resurgence, as an alternative to cream for blushing sauces, as a dollop of sweet dairy to temper the peppery olive oils now so often served for dipping bread.
Take a scoop of Mancuso's all-natural ricotta, and you'll taste the difference immediately. Unlike grainy, sticky industrial versions, this one melts smoothly on the tongue, with a soft sweetness that exists only when the butterfat is still truly fresh.
Fresh ricotta cheese costs $4.59 a pound at Lucio Mancuso & Son, 1902 E. Passyunk Ave., 215-389-1817.
- Craig LaBan
