All about Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese

I’m wondering what the culinary world would do without Mozzarella cheese. Yes, I have made a Pizza with Cheddar cheese, but it’s hardly the same as you can imagine. It definitely does not do justice. For one thing the melting properties are just not there. It does not look good with strands of yellow cheese holding your ingredients together and since the first impression is not good you are hardly expecting it to taste as any good pizza should.

There are various stages of production that Mozzarella cheese has to go through

To make 1kg of Mozzarella cheese 5kg of buffalo milk is needed

1. Buffalo Milk is stored in big metal containers
2. The milk is heated, treated and poured into a separate cream container
3. Curdling takes place and it is left to mature
4. Hot water is poured on the curd so that it softens
5. The cheese is shaped with special rotating machines
6. It is drenched in cold water for cooling to take place
7. Cheese is placed in original whey for a pickling process
8. Cheese is placed in packages and sent to shops

The things you can do with Mozzarella are endless. How about a slice of Buffalo Mozzarella with a spoonful of pesto, tomato or slice of chilli and a Caprese salad is always extremely popular. Deep Fried Mozzarella is definitely a treat and once you get the hang of it, it’s really easy to do

Italians have been making Mozzarella through the ages and they make it so well. You might ask yourself why that is. My thoughts are that they concentrate on one area and they do it well. Yet, so many of us choose to buy the plastic processed slab, which the supermarkets call Mozzarella.

If you find this in one of your local supermarkets this is definitely not Mozzarella, but in fact an insult to any Italian. If you have never had the proper Buffalo Mozzarella then do yourself a favor and try it out on a pizza or even a calzone and you will never turn back.

When I was in Chef School my chef was giving us a lesson on different cheeses. When he opened the Buffalo Mozzarella it looked so fresh. A lot of people are put off by the price of food, but when you are educated about care that goes into the preparation and taste the difference between the two you might change your mind.

When ingredients are fresh there is not a lot you have to do to them, but if you have a cheap, processed ingredient you really need to dress it up, adding extra flavour. Sometimes it becomes quite technical because you can’t just add anything, the ingredients have to work together.

So the next time you are in the supermarket don’t even think of buying cheap, packaged Mozzarella that tastes of nothing, but try splash out a bit. You will be amazed.