It’s about so much more than cheese.
My favorite word is ricotta. Yes, I mean the cheese. But when reading this, be sure to pronounce it correctly: “ri-gott-uh.” Coming from a large Italian family, that is the word I’m talking about.
I wanted to write about this because the other day someone asked me what my favorite word is, and I truly enjoyed the time I spent trying to figure it out. I could not think of anything on the spot, so I decided that I was going to think really hard about what my answer would be. Is there any word in your life that you can think of that immediately puts a smile on your face?
Naturally, I pronounce “ricotta” the way I have heard it pronounced my entire life. I did not notice that I pronounced ricotta differently until my friends started pointing it out. The invisible “g” in ricotta comes out inherently and is one of many words that distinguishes me as Italian. I have had a lot of laughs associated with this word and my unique pronunciation. Ricotta means a lot more to me than just cheese.
Ricotta is one of the words I say that distinguishes me as Italian, and when people ask me about why I have such a heavy accent on that word I get so excited to tell them. Immediately I start talking about my family and how they mean the world to me. I never feel alone because I have so many loving people around me whom I can rely on.
Mainly what I think of when I say ricotta is all of my cousins, especially two of them who I consider to be my best friends and who I want to be role models for. I want to show them how family comes first. At this point, if I call them and tell them to say the word ricotta they won’t even question because they know I’m trying to prove to someone that saying ricotta without the g is wrong. Ricotta is not just an ingredient my grandma puts in her famous Christmas lasagna; ricotta is my loud, crazy and nosy Italian family. Ricotta is my culture.
When thinking of the word ricotta, I can smell the sauce my mother makes on a holiday or when we are celebrating a special occasion. Usually, when I am eating ricotta, I am eating a delicious homemade meal surrounded by people I love, all of us enjoying the food and each other. Ricotta represents food, family, happiness and love. That is why it is my favorite word. Also, I really do like the taste of ricotta cheese.