Mozzarella buy online

Mozzarella buy online: the queen of fresh cheeses from south Italy!

Italian mozzarella is a cheese produced using the pasta filata, spun paste, method. It has been made ​​for centuries in central and southern Italy.

The expression “mozzarella” comes from the verb “mozzare” (to cut off): the cheese is manually handled and pieces are then detached with index fingers and thumbs to form the most typical, round form.

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Italian mozzarella is made with Italian Mediterranean buffalo’s milk or cow’s milk, assuming by law different names:

• Mozzarella di bufala campana: under this category is the buffalo milk mozzarella cheese produced in the region of Campania, which has a protected designation of origin. This mozzarella was the only one which could simply be called “mozzarella “
• Mozzarella [which is the brand name] di latte di bufala: under this category is the buffalo milk mozzarella cheese that does not have the protected designation of origin.
• “Fior di latte” or “mozzarella di latte vaccino” or simply ” mozzarella ” indicate the cow’s milk mozzarella.

The traditional Italian mozzarella is obtained by using fresh milk, salt, rennet and lactic acid bacteria and is of the highest quality, while the industrial one is obtained using citric acid or lactic acid in place of ferments.

To distinguish the two types of Italian mozzarella you need to read the ingredients.

In 1998 Italian mozzarella received the Traditional Specialities Guaranteed from the European Union. This creates an exclusive right over the registered product name. Accordingly, the registered product name can be used only by the producers who conform to the registered production method and product specifications.

Although generally, fresh mozzarella is white, the color may vary to a slightly yellow, depending on what the animals eat. Italian mozzarella is a semi-soft cheese. Normally it is served the day after it is produced because of the high moisture content, but it is possible to conserve it in brine for up to a week or even longer if it is sold in vacuum-sealed packages.

Italian mozzarella can be eaten in different ways: Caprese Salad is made up of Italian mozzarella, sliced tomatoes and basil, pizza is made using mozzarella, several pasta dishes use mozzarella as well, but it can also be eaten by itself.

History of Mozzarella di Bufala

The first historical documents come from the 12th century, the monks of the San Lorenzo in Capua monastery offered to the pilgrims a cheese called “mozza” or “provatura” (when smoked), accompanied by a slice of bread: in that period the buffalos were increasingly appreciated for their milk and where bred in Campania Region in the coastal plains of the Volturno and the Sele rivers,

There is a great evidence from the 14th century that demonstrate the commercialization of buffalo milk derivates, usually destined for the prosperous Neapolitan and Salerno markets. For obvious reasons of viability, the only ones reaching them were the “mozze” and, above all, the “provature” the smoking of which extended the product’s commercial life.

The expression “mozzarella” appears for the first time in a text by the Papal court chef Bartolomeo Scappi in 1570.

In the 18th century mozzarella became a widely consumed product: at the Reggia di Carditello the Bourbons opened a large buffalo farm for the transformation of the milk, and after the Italian unification was opened  the “Taverna“, an authentic wholesale market for mozzarella and other dairy products from the same milk, like the ‘ricotta’.

The mozzarella was collected from the “pagliare” or “difesa” sites of production, already weighed and wrapped in marsh rush or cranberry leaves and carefully placed in wicker or chestnut crates, to be transported to the shop premises.

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