Rigouta

Rigouta
Country of origin	Tunisia
Source of milk	Sheep
Texture	fresh soft
Aging time	1 week
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Rigouta is a Tunisian fresh soft cheese, produced mainly in the city of Béja.^[1] The cheese is a close relative to the Italian ricotta and is made with the whey of Sicilo-Sarda sheep.^[2]

Production and usage

Whey is heated at 80-90 °C to coagulate the proteins (albumins and globulins); the result is then drained in small traditional straw baskets, a clean fabric, or a perforated receptacle made of plastic or metal. The main micro-organisms responsible for the fermentation are Lactococcus lactis and Enterococcus faecalis.^[3]

Rigouta is also used as the basis of several preparations and dishes of Tunisian cuisine.

References

1. Toukabri Abdelmoumen, La démarche tunisienne en matière de qualification géographique des produits agricoles, séminaire FAO sur les produits alimentaires de qualité liée à l'origine et aux traditions en Méditerranée, Casablanca, 8-9 novembre 2007
2. Les filières lait en Méditerranée : enjeux pour un futur durable Archived 2012-06-17 at the Wayback Machine, Hammamet 26-28 octobre 2000, EAAP publication No. 99, 2003, p. 102 [117]
3. « Traditional Fermented Foods of North African Countries: Technology and Food Safety Challenges With Regard to Microbiological Risks », Food Science and Food Safety, vol. 12, No. 1, janvier 2013, pp. 54-89