Buffalo mozzarella
Dear reader,
Today, we will talk about buffalo mozzarella, a highly appreciated cheese throughout Italy and increasingly known abroad (not like burrata, but we will talk about that cheese another time).
As always, I want to remind the audience for whom these articles are intended: they are aimed at young restaurateurs, young chefs, or restaurateurs in general who are not very familiar with Spanish and Italian food products.
Probably, an Italian executive chef with 20 years of experience will find nothing new in this article, but Eggify is an international platform (the articles are written in English, Spanish, and Italian), and I am sure that in many restaurants and kitchens in the Middle East or Asia, this article will be useful (I mention these two regions because I know them quite well, having worked there).
With this introduction, what is buffalo mozzarella?
Firstly, let's explain why it is called that and with what milk it is produced:
The term mozzarella comes from "mozzare," referring to the gesture made with the index and thumb to cut the stretched curd, as mentioned in our article dedicated to La Antica Mozzarella di Battipaglia. Buffalo mozzarella is a stretched curd cheese produced exclusively with buffalo milk, which can be raw or pasteurized.
Buffalo milk represents 13% of the world's milk production in Europe (second only to cow's milk production) and is used in the production of stretched curds such as mozzarella, scamorza, or caciocavallo.
Buffalo mozzarella from Campania should be produced exclusively with buffalo milk from this region. I mention this because not everyone may know that buffaloes prefer marshy lands, and thus, their natural habitat is not only in Italy but also in Egypt, Pakistan, India, Nepal, and China.
Nowadays, cases of counterfeiting of this cheese are becoming more frequent. In Italy, it often happens that fraudulent companies mix buffalo milk with cow's milk, the latter being much cheaper than the former.
Advice for the restaurateur ; be very careful about who you turn to when choosing a supplier for your restaurant. Before placing an order, whether from a distributor or producer, gather as much information as possible about them, especially about the storage of the goods, whether they comply with all hygiene standards, whether transportation occurs without interrupting the cold chain, whether deliveries are punctual, and whether the warehouse stock is always supplied, etc. This information will save you time and unpleasant surprises!
With this preamble on the possible origin of the milk, it should also be said that this cheese is produced in different regions of Italy, such as Lazio, Molise, Puglia, but the most famous comes precisely from Campania.
Buffalo Mozzarella DOP can have a globular shape or other shapes; sphere, bite-sized, braid, pearl, cherry, knot, and egg are the most common shapes in the market. Its smooth surface has a porcelain-white color, and the crust generally does not exceed one millimeter; the latter is an extremely thin, taut, smooth, and elastic film.
The paste has a more milky color, slightly elastic consistency, with a structure, when fresh, of overlapping layers, better visible near the crust. The taste is sweet and fresh with a scent of live lactic ferments and a slightly acidic vein conferred by the whey. It is best consumed when extremely fresh; when the layers begin to melt, it means it has lost freshness or has been poorly stored.
Production Techniques and Aging of Buffalo Mozzarella
It is a fresh raw stretched curd cheese produced exclusively with buffalo milk, appropriately heated and added with liquid calf rennet and lactic ferments. For about 5 hours, the curd matures under whey, then it is reduced to strips and placed in special containers, where, with the addition of water at 95 °C, it is stretched and then cut, or rather "mozzata" (hence the name of the cheese, as mentioned earlier). This is followed by a passage in cold water, salting in brine, and packaging. The brine in which the mozzarellas are marketed is a solution of water and salt sometimes added with lactic acid or citric acid. No aging is performed.
Gastronomic Pairings of Buffalo Mozzarella
Buffalo Mozzarella can be enjoyed as is or dressed with extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground black pepper. Sliced, it pairs well with tomato, basil, or oregano, dressed with a drizzle of oil, or cut into cubes and added to fresh salads. If you want to use it in the kitchen, it is preferable to cut it and let it drain in a colander so that, during cooking, it does not release liquids that would compromise the success of preparations such as pizzas, panzerotti, calzones, eggplant parmigiana, and "in carrozza" fry-ups. It can also be grilled, on skewers, or in dressings for dry pasta and rice.
Wine Pairings: Which Wine Goes Well with Mozzarella?
Recommended wines are white, young, and dry in taste, such as Falerno del Massico and other whites from the Phlegraean area, Locorotondo, Verdicchio di Jesi or Matelica, and Riesling Italico from Oltrepò Pavese.
Mozzarella Storage
To keep the properties of buffalo mozzarella unchanged, certain precautions must be taken for storage:
- When it's cold, immerse the mozzarella in a container of hot water for 15 minutes, or place the polystyrene container on the radiator: at high temperatures, the product is better preserved!
- After cutting it, do not put it back in the brine, but when possible, consume it all.
- To savor all its fragrance, various mozzarella producers recommend storing it at room temperature for a maximum of 4-5 days.
- Never expose mozzarella to direct sunlight, and never store it in the refrigerator or freezer unless you want to use it only for cooking.
In conclusion, I want to emphasize the importance of always checking the goods upon unloading, both for quality and weight (we will talk about this in another article).
If you have reached this point, you might be interested in getting in touch with a reliable producer or supplier of mozzarella and other cheeses for your establishment. I am pleased to tell you that you are in the right place; on Eggify, you will have access to a wide selection of dairy manufacturer and distributors, both Spanish and Italian.
Furthermore, dear restaurateur, I encourage you to register for free on our platform.
