Carmen Mangion tests the white fluffy mixture in the large pot. “The ricotta is nearly done,” she said proudly just as her 88-year-old mother-in-law Maria is brought into the room.

“That is done,” Maria, who handed down the generation-long recipe to Carmen said.

Carmen opened her humble garage to show us how she still makes ricotta in the traditional way. She insists that she only makes the cheese for herself and the family members.

“Every now and then I make some ricotta to use in ravioli, pastizzi or qassatat. Nothing beats the real thing. Once you taste the ricotta made with sheep’s milk, you’ll realise what you’ve been missing.

“We have five sheep and when I want to make ricotta I use all their milk. Usually I try to use 10 litres of milk. The secret ingredient is sea water from a good source. You will need two litres of sea water to 10 litres of milk.

“I start off by placing the sea water in a bain marie, over a high flame. Once it is warm, I add the milk allowing the mixture to starting heating up again and stirring vigorously all the time. Once it is warm, I take some of the mixture out and add to it 250 grammes of flour. I stir this flour mixture well and pour it back into the large bain marie through a sieve. I continue stirring well and once the fluffy, white stuff starts rising to the top and it peels away from the pot it is important to stop mixing.

“The entire process is quite lengthy and might take up to two and a half hours. The ricotta is ready once it is dry to the touch. It is then important to lift it out and let the water drain naturally,” she beamed, ladling it out into the moulds.

Carmen recalls that her husband’s family, which hailed from Ghaxaq had always made ricotta for a living. In fact her mother-in-law Maria recalls going to Birzebbuga on a horse-drawn cart to get sea water. She and her other five sisters used to go and buy more sheep’s milk from other farmers before going back to making the ricotta over the kenur late into the night. “We used to stay up until the process was complete so that on the morrow we would go on our carts again and sell the fresh cheese in various villages including Sliema and Paola.”

After some years she handed down the traditional recipe to Carmen who has been more than willing to keep up the family tradition.

So much so that tomorrow she will be doing the entire process at the Kirkop Irkottafest, an event celebrating the humble cheese.

The event, organised by the Kirkop local council, aims to revive the old tradition of ricotta making. A typical open air dairy cow unit and a small sheep/goats’ pen will be set up in the village core. Food including ricotta will be prepared.

Ricotta making is closely linked to the tranquil village, which was the primary source of income for many farmers and villagers.

The Irkottafest, which starts at 10 a.m., also includes folkloristic shows in a typical Maltese village feast atmosphere.