Learning more about Mozzarella

Where does the word Mozzarella come from?

More than a hundred years ago a cheese maker, who was busy making a pressed cheese, dropped a piece of curd into a bucket of hot water by accident. In an attempt to save his curd he tried to pull it out of the water with a wooden stick. He saw how the curd was stretching and decided to form a ball with it. When one of his co-workers came by and asked what he was doing he answered him in an Italian dialect from Naples by saying: “Mozzare”, which means to cut. That is where the word mozzarella originated from.

What is Mozzarella Cheese?

Hailing from Italy, mozzarella is a mild, white fresh cheese that's made by the special pasta filata process, whereby the curd is dipped into hot whey, then stretched to the desired consistency. At one time, mozzarella was made only from the milk of water buffaloes. Today, however, the majority of it is made with cow's milk.

What is the difference: fresh mozzarella & low moisture mozzarella?

Mozzarella comes in two basic styles.

Fresh Mozzarella

Fresh Mozzarella is not cured in brine or aged like the low-moisture Mozzarella more familiar to most of us. The moist, sweet, tender, milky, nutty and buttery flavor, and springy, yielding texture, is unlike that of any other dairy product. The different sizes of fresh mozzarella relate best to the sizes of fresh tomatoes since it naturally is a gastronomical match made in heaven.
Fresh mozzarella is always packed in water." It's generally made from whole milk and has a much softer texture and a sweet, delicate flavor. It's excellent simply spread on bread with salt, pepper and a little olive oil. See also cheese.

Low Moisture Mozzarella

At Cantaré our low moisture mozzarella is called gourmet mozzarella and has a semi soft, elastic texture. It is drier and not as delicately flavored as its fresher counterpart. This style of low moisture mozzarella is best used for cooking and is popular for pizza because of its excellent melting qualities.

The Production Process

In Italy, buffalo's mozzarella is made mostly in the southern region of Campania, near Naples, but also in nearby Apulia and Basilicata. Like many cheeses, mozzarella was invented as a way of saving sour milk. Today, only the freshest milk is used to produce mozzarella. The milk is heated and natural rennet is added; the curds separate from the whey as coagulation occurs. The curds are left in the whey to ferment so that lactic acid develops. Then they are broken up into smaller pieces and the whey is drained off. Traditional cheesemakers reserve the whey and use it as a "starter" for the next day's batch of mozzarella.

The curds are transferred to a large tub of boiling water, where they are stirred. Mozzarella is a malleable, curd cheese, and it is this step—the addition of hot water to the curds—that gives the cheese its elasticity, or its melting characteristic. The resulting mass is stretched and pulled until it is smooth and elastic. The next step is cutting the mozzarella. The mozzarella is then stretched into a taut shape, formed into a ball and immersed in cold water, where it firms up. Once it is firm, it is left to soak in brine until it is packed in liquid and sent to market.

Buying Tips

Ensure that lactic acid is included in the ingredient statement rather than citric acid or vinegar. This ingredient is a natural bi-product of lactic fermentation and delivers the true milky flavor that one is looking for. Look for the following characteristics, which indicate freshness. First, the consistency should be elastic, and the surface should be tight, smooth, and humid, neither too dry nor too wet. There should be no yellowish marks, spots or bubbles, and the cheese's texture should be neither soft nor rubbery when pressed with a finger. Once you slice into the mozzarella, it should have a grainy surface and appear to be composed of many layers, like an onion, especially near the surface. Pearls of milky whey should seep out when you cut into mozzarella; upon tasting, you should notice the liquid separating from the solid, almost as if the mozzarella had been soaked in milk. Good mozzarella should simply melt in your mouth.

Cooking Ideas

The culinary possibilities with Cantaré’s mozzarella are endless. At its simplest, all mozzarella needs is a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a grinding of aromatic black pepper, and it's ready to eat. Mozzarella is ideal combined with tomatoes, basil, or oregano, and can be stirred into cold or hot pasta or vegetable dishes. In the classic insalata caprese, it is paired with ripe tomatoes and sweet basil and dressed with extra-virgin olive oil. A delicious dish called spaghetti caprese combines the flavors of this salad with the satisfying texture and taste of pasta, making the mozzarella melt lusciously on contact with the hot pasta. In Campania, mozzarella is served in carrozza (literally, in a carriage): sandwiched between two slices of bread, battered, and fried. It is also essential to melanzane alla parmigiana (eggplant parmigiana), deep-fried half-moon pastries called panzerotti that also feature salami, and calzone. And, of course, pizza wouldn't be the same without mozzarella. When using fresh mozzarella to top your pizza or fill your calzone, it is best to cut the cheese into cubes and allow it to drain for several hours in a colander so that the crust doesn't become soggy. Mozzarella is also delicious sliced and grilled; cubed, skewered with bread, and grilled, then topped with a warm anchovy sauce (a traditional Roman antipasto); or stuffed into focaccia. When it is stirred into tomato sauce, it gives rice, pasta, or gnocchi a meltingly rich and delicious consistency. Mozzarella's delicate flavor is best accompanied by white country bread, which doesn't overwhelm its flavor.

Wine Recommendations

Enjoy fresh mozzarella with light red wines such as Beaujolais Nouveau or Pinot Noir or white wines such as Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Semillon, or Sauvignon Blanc, Locorotondo, Verdicchio, or a Riesling Italico from Oltrepò Pavese

Accompaniments

Fruit: Fresh, roasted or sundried tomatoes
Breads: Crusty Italian, focaccia, pizza,crostini,grissini
Condiments: Roasted peppers, anchovies, olives, fresh basil, cured meats, balsamic vinegar, olive oil & black pepper

See our recipe section under “Entertaining with Cantaré”