Critics' Pick

Photo: Karl Petzke

During a recent visit to the specialty store Blue Apron Foods (814 Union St between Seventh and Eighth Aves, Park Slope, Brooklyn; 718-230-3180), I was plied with a sample of creamy, mouth-coating ricotta. The cheese was so commanding that I suspected it was flown in from some lesser-known region of Italy. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the dense, buttery formaggio is made just blocks from the store. Salvatore Bklyn ricotta, which came onto the market a month ago, is among the richest I’ve tried, thanks in part to the use of whole milk instead of whey (a watery cheese by-product) to make the curds. The ricotta is the brainchild of Boerum Hill residents Betsy Devine (a sous chef at the Italian restaurant Lunetta, where the cheese appears on the menu) and Rachel Mark, a seller for wine importer Domaine Select. In an innovative twist, Devine adds lemon juice instead of citric acid or rennet (milk enzymes) to get the milk to curdle, which gives the cheese its distinctive citrus perfume. She picked up her technique on a trip to Tuscany, from chef Salvatore Farina of Gustavo Enoteca in San Gimignano, and brought it stateside. Available for $11.95 a pound at Blue Apron Foods.