Mozzarella Really Matters
Even though several other cheeses are gaining popularity as the choice of pizza cheese, mozzarella is still definitely considered “the” cheese for pizza toppings. Even those pies that are sporting the latest and best cheese combinations almost always include mozzarella as a must, and the processed designer cheese products that have been developed specifically as pizza cheeses are only meant to be “new and improved” versions of the traditional mozzarella but would you settle for any less?
For those of us who love our gourmet pizza, it’s fun to know a little more about the history of the products that make it, starting with some of the very basics of the best pizza pie.
Mozzarella is the most popular choice of cheese in history. As with most cheeses, it is expected that mozzarella was really created entirely by accident. Legend has it that mozzarella was only created when cheese gratings fell into a pail of hot water.
What mozzarella really is, is a mild cheese that is put through a curing process (similar to falling in a bucket of hot water). The little we do know for sure about its real history is that the first mozzarellas were made not from cow’s milk, as is the most widely accepted norm now, but was derived from the rich milk of native water buffaloes.
In fact, true water buffalo mozzarella is considered one of the absolute best choices when cheese matters, but it is not a product that is widely produced commercially; instead, most pizza and delivery outfits make do with the still excellent fresh cow’s mozzarella. Still, it is possible in some parts to get real water buffalo mozzarella, including some areas of the mediterranian and from specialty food providers. The question then remains; Who milks the buffalo?
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