Did you know that buffalo milk is really rich? A cheese maker requires 5 kg of buffalo milk to produce 1 kg of cheese. Also 10 kg of buffalo milk is required to make 1 kg of butter. Mozzarella di Bufala contains more protein and more casein contents which makes buffalo milk more suitable in the production of mozzarella. Making this cheese is really a long process and due to its perishable nature the cheese made will be delivered on the same day.
There are nine production stages which are as follows:
1. Milk storage – this is when raw buffalo milk is stored in big steel containers.
2. Milk heating – this means adding some heated treatment to the liquid, then poured into a cream separator.
3. Curdling – this is when whey is induced.
4. Curd maturation – this allows the curd to lie in the tubs to reduce acidification until it reaches a pH of 4.95
5. Spinning – when hot water is poured to the curd to soften it
6. Shaping – done with a special rotating shaper machine
7. Cooling – by immersing the cheese in cold water
8. Pickling – by immersing cheese in pickling tubs containing the original whey
9. Packaging – cut as bags or in small basins and plastic with a bit of its whey
In Italy, for the first three days, fresh mozzarella is eaten completely naturally - simply cut in half and eat with your fingers!
When mozzarella is really fresh, you will experience a burst of freshness, the milk will ooze out… southern Italians say that if you don’t have a mess on your face, you are not eating mozzarella! This is what fresh mozzarella is really about. Only after four days is it eaten with tomato, fresh basil and olive oil. That got me a bit hungry; I’d head out to the gourmet cheese shop to get me some Mozzarella di Bufala.