Mozzarella is one of the most prestigious cheeses on the earth, which also has an ancient history of 500 years and foundations in the Middle Ages.
Mozzarella isn’t just a cheese, but a work of art. Are you also curious to know how they make it? Then, you’re at the right spot!
We are excited to share a secret of the making of traditional mozzarella cheese along with the ultimate steps of one of their best burrata, bocconcini at Casa Della Mozzarella. The Tasty YouTube Channel reveals this mystery called,
How Mozzarella Is Made At “Casa Della Mozzarella”
In the video, The maestro Orazio and son Carlo explain the art of NYC’s most renowned cheese stretch.
This delicious and melting cheese requires a skilled helping hand. From cutting curd cubes with the “Chitarra” (an Italian kitchen appliance) till forming it into the balls called Bocconcini, and the classical burrata, a version that contains a stracciatella heart, or mini size in the shape of knots.
The father and son stir their large wooden pallets in boiling water to form these little jewels, before selling them directly at the counter.
How Mozzarella Is Made
Mates, in order to choose your Mozzarella and select a good one, you must first know what mozzarella is and how it is made.
Originally, it is an Italian cheese with a spun paste in the shape of a ball, made from the milk of buffalo. Mozzarella is a fresh cheese made by hand, by cheese artisans.
Once the raw buffalo milk is first pasteurized and brought to coagulation with rennet. The curd obtained is cut by using a Chitarra cutter and then placed in hot water, the temperature of which rises between 80° and 90°.
The dough is then removed from the water to be spun using a bowl and a stick. It is a question of stretching this dough to give it a stringy, elastic and homogeneous character.
Once the spinning is finished, all you have to do is cut the dough to obtain balls of the desired size, then put them in cold water so that they retain their shape and finally salt them.
The process is particularly fast, just over eight hours and therefore requires no refining. Determining the precise moment to spin the dough is the critical step in the production in order to give all the elasticity to the cheese.
Mozzarella can be artisanal or industrial, the use of cow’s milk is common, accounting for up to 90% of production. For these two reasons, the taste, appearance and quality of Mozzarella are very variable.
You might like to read – Science behind making butter
Interesting: Buffalo Milk Makes Almost Double
With the processing of about one quintal of buffalo milk, over 24 kg of mozzarella is obtained, compared to 13 kg obtained from a quintal of cow’s milk.
In other words, To obtain 1 kg of mozzarella, you need about 8 litres of cow’s milk, while from the buffalo milk, you need only 4 litres.
Check out – How to make curd and whey at home.
Which Mozzarella To Choose? For What Use?
Mozzarella has a lot of “cousins”, like Burrata for example, which is a kind of very creamy Mozzarella inside. Or the Scamorza, which is a matured Mozzarella, like any other cheese.
But there is not the only Mozzarella made with buffalo milk. But, the Mozzarella Fior Di Latte too, which is made from cow’s milk. So which Mozzarella to choose? It all depends on the kind of recipe you want to make!
How To Choose Mozzarella?
Here are some characteristics of mozzarella cheese:
- Appearance: immaculate white body;
- The smell: frankly lactic fragrance;
- Feel: elasticity of the dough;
- Taste: mild, creamy flavour.
How To Cook Mozzarella?
Mozzarella is suitable for cold or hot preparations:
- Particularly popular as a pizza cheese;
- Salads (tomato-mozzarella, the famous Caprese salad.);
- Appetizers (small tomato-mozzarella skewers);
- To gratinate;
- Ingredient for stuffing (cannelloni or stuffed vegetables,).
Moreover, it is also found in different forms like cheese, log, marbles, grated, and etc. It can also be grated or smoked (afumata mozzarella).
Do Not Freeze Mozzarella
The mozzarella must not be put in the frozen compartment of the refrigerator, because the change from the temperature of 18° c below or lesser from the room-temperature, it negatively affects on the characteristic of taste and the consistency, that risks becoming a little floury too.
A Story Behind The Mozzarella
Mozzarella is called for the first time with this name in 1570, in a cooking manual by the cook of the papal court Bartolomeo Scappi. On the other hand, the word “crop” is mentioned even earlier in a treatise by Rucellai in 1481.
Did you know? The term “mozzarella” comes from the specific manufacturing process (mozzare = cut into pieces).
Our Tips: How To Consume Raw Mozzarella
As per our dear Italian friends’ recommendations, The Mozzarella made from buffalo milk should be eaten at room temperature.
Therefore, it is essential to take it out an hour before having it so that it warms up. Otherwise, the professional mozzarella artisans also recommend immersing the mozzarella for 10/15 minutes in water at 30 degrees to be able to enjoy it at room temperature.
Click here for some delicious Mozzarella recipes on BBC-GoodFood.
Resources
- How Mozzarella Is Made At Casa Della Mozzarella
- The Tasty YouTube Channel
