Mozzarella Di Bufala!

One of the most famous products I've learned about in my food classes is mozzarella di bufala!  Mozzarella di Bufala is produced mainly in the Campania region in Italy, and is mozzarella cheese made from buffalo milk, as the name suggests.  I had heard about mozzarella di bufala and even seen some restaurants in Rome that offered it, but never fully understood what the big deal about this product was until I went on the Cilento field trip with my program.  On this field trip we visited two farms where we saw buffalo.  My favorite part of the trip was our visit to the second farm, where we got to see how mozzarella di bufala is actually made!  The owners of this farm had extreme pride in their buffalo!  The first thing we saw was their "buffalo community."  Compared to the buffalo we saw on the first farm, the buffalo living on this farm were extremely civilized and intelligent.  In this "buffalo community" each buffalo had their own bed, brushed themselves by rubbing up against an automatic brush, and even waited in line to milk themselves with the help of a high-tech machine.  It was actually incredible how well behaved/trained these buffalo were!  We learned that the vast majority of the buffalo were women and only 3 or 4 men were kept alive, as only the women were profitability due to their milk.  The rest of the male buffalo were skinned in order to produce leather.  

 Buffalo!

 Buffalo Community

After seeing where the buffalo lived and how they were milked, we got to see how mozzarella di bufala was actually made!  The texture of the cheese was such that the workers simply had to rip the cheese and shape it into balls with their hands in order to produce the shape.  We also saw a worker make a mozzarella di bufala braid, in which he stretched the cheese into a long, narrow strip and then braided it. They let us sample their mozzarella di bufala and it was absolutely amazing!!  I honestly have never tasted more amazing cheese in my life.  The cheese was extremely fresh, and the milk of the cheese gushed out with every bite.  We learned that the milky the cheese the more fresh and better quality it is!  

Sampling of Mozzarella di Bufala at the Farm

In addition to seeing the importance of mozzarella di bufala to farms in the south, its importance was very evident in the surrounding towns.  Along our drive through Cilento, I saw mozzarella di bufala advertised outside of several restaurants!  It was also on the menu of every restaurant we went to in Cilento!  The first meal we had as a group our appetizer was a gigantic Mozzarella di Bufala ball.  We were all shocked by the size of the mozzarella at first, but many of us actually almost finished the entire thing!  Mozzarella di Bufala was also offered on many menus on pizza.  After the trip to Cilento,  I have a new appreciation and love for this product!  It is not only delicious, but also a very respected and important product to those living in the Campania region.  

Mozzarella di Bufala Appetizer