Mozzarella – Probably The Most Popular Cheese In The World
How do you like to eat mozzarella? On your pizza? Or maybe as a Salad Caprese, or simply neat with a dash of olive oil and salt and pepper?
Whichever way you choose to enjoy it, Mozarella is one of the most versatile cheeses you can find. It can be used in so many dishes, not just savoury, but sweet too. In fact, Mozzarella is probably the most popular cheese in the world.
Italian Cheese – How Mozzarellla is Made
The traditional way of making Mozzarella dates back over 800 years. After heating raw buffalo milk to about 38°C, rennet is added to make it curdle. Next, the curds are separated from the whey and brought to melting point in extremely hot water. At this point the melting curd is stretched and torn into pieces by hand (the Italians call this “mozzare” from which the name is derived and then it is cooled in brine. It takes a lot of expertise to achieve the perfect consistency and you have to know exactly the right moment to stretch and cool in order to create the best Mozzarella.
Water Buffalo Milk For Mozzarella
Southern Italy’s mozarella uses the milk of water buffalo. It is thought that they arrived in the country in the 11th century with Arab traders, first to Sicily, and then to the mainland. They thrived in the wet marshes and meadows of Campania, close to Naples and it didn’t take long for the locals to start using this high-fat content milk to make cheese. In fact documents have been found proving that the monks of Capua and Aversa, two ancient cities near Caserta, served “mozza”, a buffalo milk cheese to their guests, way back in the 12th century!
Since then Mozzarella cheesemaking has spread further south, and in places like Puglia, Burrata, a variation of Mozzarella, has become a speciality too!
So if you’re looking from some easy recipes using Mozzarella, we will be posting some on the blog very soon!
*** Articles You May Like ***
****************