I had dinner with friends a few months ago and we debated about buffalo mozzarella. I was convinced that this better version of the Italian cheese is made from buffalo milk -- hence the name. My friends laughed out loud and insisted that I was wrong, that buffalo don't even produce milk and the name referred to a method rather than a milk. I held on for a few minutes and then backed down.
But still sure of myself, I did a little research. First I looked at the ingredients list of my favorite brand. And thanks to Google, I found a few websites dedicated to mozzarella. Mozzarella Company is a particularly good one -- with history, recipes and an online store of delicious products. Wikipedia also has a great description of the traditional campana cheese and its process. All of my research confirmed the main ingredient!
Mozzarella di bufala is indeed made from the milk of water buffalo. And fior di latte is its sister cheese made from cow's milk -- the more common version we see often here in the US. At our simple corner store in France I can buy a package for about three euros. Here in the States, I've paid $12 for the exact same brand in an Italian market in New York and in San Francisco I pay about $6. Nonetheless, there is no comparison to other types, especially for our favorite salad of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil with a little sea salt and pepper. Mmmm...
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