The cannoli is one of Italy's most famous desserts, which combines the richness of a sweet ricotta cheese filling with the crunch of a rolled, deep-fried dough shell. Many residents of Sicily, the dessert's birthplace, still adhere to traditions of cannoli making, such as using this one important ingredient that can be hard to find.

Traditional Sicilian cannoli uses sheep’s milk ricotta, which fell out of favor a bit once Italian immigrants came to the U.S. and could only make cannolis using mascarpone or cow's milk ricotta. Both sheep's milk and cow's milk ricotta are creamy fresh cheeses that work well in sweets, but they're also quite different from each other.

Sheep’s milk ricotta has an extra dimension of tang that a neutral cow's milk ricotta lacks, and the region of Lazio, Italy makes a sheep ricotta with an incredibly light texture and tanginess that is the creme dela creme for a perfect cannoli. A classic Sicilian cannoli with sheep's milk ricotta can be life-changing if you're used to American versions.