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Mozzarella Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Anthony thought the cheese so excellent that he sent some water buffalo back to Rome as a gift to Caesar, with instructions on how to make their milk into mozzarella. The cheese rapidly became a staple of the Roman diet and all of Southern Italy. The breeding of water buffalo became a passion in the area between Rome and Naples, and Buffalo Mozzarella is still made there, though most Mozzarella nowadays is made from cow's milk. Legends The cheese soon became a staple of the Roman diet and all of Southern Italy. As a result the Italian people sustained the wholesomeness of the produce and now original mozzarella cheese could not be duplicated anywhere else. Another legend says that mozzarella was first made when cheese curds accidently fell into a pail of hot water in a cheese factory near Naples...and soon thereafter the first pizza was made! Having said that really new cheeses are often formulated when mistakes happen. So this tale may turn out to be true. According the legend Mozzarella was first made in Italy near Naples from the rich milk of water buffalos. The cheese had a very short shelf-life, it also seldom left the region where it was made. It happened because there was not refrigeration and milk was not pasteurized of course. After some time cheese technology, refrigeration and transportation systems developed. This allowed mozzarella cheese to spread to other regions of Italy. But even nowadays it is widely known that the best and most highly prized originally produced buffalo mozzarella is still found south of Naples near Battipaglia and Caserta. There situated small factories, which continue centuries-old traditions making buffalo mozzarella fresh daily for their local customers who line up at the factories to buy the freshly made delicacy. 2,000 years ago Rome was the master of the world and Julius Caesar was the master of Rome. One of Rome's many conquests was the country of Egypt and its beautiful Queen Cleopatra. Caesar returned to Rome and sent his counsel, Anthony, to administer the conquest.Legend has it that Anthony and Cleopatra fell in love and spent many idyllic hours cruising the Nile on the barges pulled by water buffalo, eating sumptuous meals and feasting on cheese made from the milk of the water buffalo. The Egyptians, seeing the passion between the two, came to regard the protein and vitamin rich cheese as a prime motivator in this mad affair. Anthony became such a lover of the cheese he sent water buffalo back to Rome as a gift to Caesar, with instructions on how to make the milk into mozzarella. Overnight the cheese became a staple of the Roman diet and all of Southern Italy. The breeding of the water buffalo became a passion in its own right in the area between Rome and Naples. Over the centuries, the wholesomeness of the produce sustained the Italian people and could not be duplicated anywhere else.
Mozzarella When I first travelled to Italy in the early 1960's and tasted fresh mozzarella I couldn't quite decide what I was eating. It was so soft and moist, very bland and milky tasting, almost spongy and oozing with milk. It was often served with tomatoes in a salad. When I was told it was made from "buffalo milk", I couldn't imagine what Wild Bill Cody and his buffalos could possibly have to do with this delicious dish! Later I learned that some of this fresh mozzarella was made from the milk of water buffalos and it was called "Buffalo Mozzarella" and some was made from cow's milk and it was called "Fior di Latte"! Whenever I travelled to Italy I would enjoy fresh mozzarella and tomato salads. I loved the fresh mozzarella in Italy and because it wasn't available in Dallas I founded the Mozzarella Company in 1982. My goal was to produce fresh mozzarella that I would sell as soon as it was made, just like they did in Italy, so that everyone in Dallas could enjoy mozzarella and tomato salads! Today two types of mozzarella are produced in the USA. Low moisture mozzarella that has a moisture content of less than 50% and high moisture mozzarella that contains more than 52%. The former was developed in the USA to fit our transportation and distribution systems, and it has been available in grocery stores for years. This is the cheese that the huge factories produce for the pizza industry. Fresh mozzarella is different. It is soft and moist and more perishable. Thanks to the craze for Italian food, high-moisture mozzarella is more readily available in the USA than ever. There are three types: industrially produced fresh mozzarella that is available in many specialty stores, mozzarella curds that are available for delis to mix with hot water to form soft mozzarella in their stores, and some handmade fresh mozzarella that is available from company's such as ours. Fresh mozzarella can be packaged dry in vacuum-sealed plastic packages or in a governing liquid sometimes called "latte". It is available salted and unsalted. It is most often made from cow's milk; however it can be made from a combination of other milks such as cow's milk and goat's milk mixed. A small amount of buffalo-milk mozzarella is produced in the USA although very little water buffalo milk is commercially available. Most buffalo milk mozzarella sold here is imported from Italy and South America. There are two basic ways to make mozzarella: direct acidification of the milk to form the curds or the culture/rennet method. In both methods, raw milk is pasteurized and then coagulated to form curds. Once the curds reach a pH of 5.2 they are cut into small pieces and mixed with hot water and then "strung" or "spun" until long ropes of cheese form. This "stringing of the curd" is unique to cheeses in the "pasta filata" family, such as mozzarella, scamorza and provolone. When the proper smooth, elastic consistency is reached, the curds are formed by machine or hand into balls which are then tossed into cold water so that they maintain their shapes while they cool. They are then salted and packaged. It is a short making process, usually less than 8 hours from raw milk to finished cheese. The critical moment is determining exactly when the cheese is mature and ready to be strung...waiting too long can result in a mushy cheese, while stringing too early can result in a tough dry cheese. Once strung the curds can be formed into balls of varying sizes or into rolls or loaves filled with sun-dried tomatoes, basil pesto, and other delicacies. Mozzarella can be smoked, either in a smoking chamber with intense smoke or by "painting" with a liquid smoke. The curds can be mixed with fresh herbs or chilli peppers before forming to flavour the mozzarella. The possibilities and variations are endless. What distinguishes a superior fresh mozzarella from the rest of the pack? Taste above all. The cheese should taste fresh and reminiscent of milk. It should be mild and delicate. Some say it is bland, yet there is flavour. There should be a hint of sourness. If it tastes too tart or sour the cheese is past its prime. The colour should be white; however, seasonally the cheese can be more yellow due to the cows' diet of grasses. The fresher the cheese, the more elastic and springy the curd. As the cheese ages it becomes more and more soft. The perishability of fresh mozzarella varies according to packaging. Vacuum sealing extends the shelf life dramatically. Buffalo mozzarella Buffalo mozzarella is an important industry in Italy. "Italy… is home to the €300m (£240m) a year industry… Italy produces around 33,000 tonnes of its trademark mozzarella from buffalo milk every year, with 16 per cent sold abroad, mostly in the European Union. France and Germany are the main importers but sales have been expanding in Japan and Russia." Protected Geographical Status History in Italy "In ancient times, the buffalo was a familiar sight in the countryside, since it was widely used as a draught animal in plowing compact and watery terrains, both because of its strength and the size of its hooves, which do not sink too deeply into moist soils." References to cheese products made from water buffalo milk appeared for the first time at the beginning of the twelfth century. Buffalo mozzarella became widespread throughout the south of Italy from the second half of the eighteenth century, before which it had been produced only in small quantities. "Production in and around Naples was briefly interrupted during World War II, when retreating Nazis slaughtered the area's water buffalo herds, yet commenced a few years after the armistice was signed". Production Stages Milk storage (raw buffalo milk stored in big steel containers). Milk heating (thermic treatment to the liquid, then poured into a cream separator). Curdling (by induction of natural whey). Curd maturation (the curd lies in tubs in order to reduce the acidification processes and reach a pH value of about 4.95. Spinning (hot water is poured out on the curd in order to soften it, obtaining pasta filata). Shaping (with special rotating shaper machines). Cooling (by immersion in cold water). Pickling (by immersion in pickling tubs containing the original whey). Packaging (in special films cut as bags or in small basins and plastic). Nutrition History and Production Though today’s mozzarella is most often made with partially skimmed or whole cow’s milk, the original cheese was made only from the milk of water buffalos. It’s not certain when or how water buffalos were first introduced to Italy, but one story says Marc Antony brought them from Egypt – complete with mozzarella cheese making instructions – as a gift for Caesar. Whatever the correct explanation, water buffalos became a familiar sight in the southern Italian countryside where they were used for plowing. By the sixteenth century, farmers began using water buffalo milk to make cheese, but with no pasteurization, refrigeration, or transport, the small quantities they produced seldom left the south. By the second half of the eighteenth century, mozzarella became more widespread, eventually reaching northern Italy where inferior versions were being made with cow’s milk. With excellent melting qualities, regular mozzarella is favoured for grating and cooking, especially in classic Italian dishes like pizza and lasagne. Commercial mozzarella is vacuum-packaged for longer shelf and will keep in the refrigerator for about four weeks. When made with cow’s milk, fresh mozzarella is distinguished by the label “fior di latte.” However, it is widely agreed that the best and most highly prized fresh mozzarella is “mozzarella di bufala” (buffalo mozzarella). The authentic “Mozzarella di Bufala Campana” is made according to age-old traditions in only seven provinces of south-central Italy. It is protected by European DOP (Denominazione d'Origine Protetta) and wrapped with its official logo and name.
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