Mozzarella cheese is something Italy is really proud of. Just like pasta, it is a main ingredient used for different recipes like Italian pizza, potato gnocchi with sorrentina and the caprese salad. But there’s something which many tourists realize when coming to Italy (and which I have realized too when visiting a Walmart): Italian mozzarella is different from mozzarella you commonly find in some supermarkets outside Italy (it still depends on countries, as there sure surely countries in which original Italian mozzarella is popular as well).
Italian mozzarella is first of all of various kinds: there are mozzarella cheeses made with cow milk (the classic and the “fiordilatte”) then there is the Buffalo milk mozzarella (which is a protected product and it is called “Mozzarella di bufala campana”.
All Italian mozzarella cheeses are very rich in liquid and a very soft consistency. Tasting them means feeling a soft but very decise flavor, while some mozzarella cheeses common to find in some markets abroad are dried and have not much flavor compared to many Italian mozzarella cheeses. These are clearly imitations of original mozzarella cheese, just like parmesan, parmesào and similar cheeses are imitations of our Grana Padano & Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses.
Also in Italy you can find dried mozzarella, but it still prepared from classic mozzarella cheese and sold to be used on pizza (even if pizzerias still generally use the classic mozzarella cheese). In some Italian discounts, anyway, it is not uncommon to find also mozzarella cheeses produced in Germany. Some of them are good too (honestly there was only one case in which I didn’t like my mozzarella), anyway reading the labels is still a valuable advice.
If you want to eat original Italian mozzarella, you should first of all look for “globes” of mozzarella, as this is the traditional cheese for excellence. You cannot be safe from imitations too (Italian food is well known for being widely imitated), so try to look for “mozzarella di bufala campana DOP”: our buffalo milk mozzarella is a registered and protected product, so if you see this exact name, with the logo of registered DOP products, you are sure you are eating true Italian buffalo milk mozzarella. And honestly, it is among the best mozzarella cheeses you can taste! Have actually seen “mozzarella di bufala campana DOP” in Tesco market, for example. I didn’t remember if it was available at Walmart, but maybe in some specific markets (and also Italian shops) you can find it.
Мне очень нравится моцарелла и пармезан, но, к сожалению, в наших магазинах она встречается не часто. Но когда бываю в Италии я обязательно их ем. Очень интересно было прочитать про разные сорта. Не знала, что бывает еще сушеная моцарелла. Никогда не пробовала.
@Victoria_v dried mozzarella is common to find outside Italy, Walmart for example is full of dried mozzarella. In Italy there is dried mozzarella goo but it is generally more tasty, anyway less used than ordinary mozzarella cheese.
I spent many years of my life saying that I love mozzarella, but after this post, @user_not_found , I’m not sure if I ever tasted real italian mozzarella! The one I know is much more “yellow” than the photo, and it’s not ball shaped. It gets super grated and a bit oily when it’s on a pizza made in the oven.
I guess I have to unlearn and then start learning lots of things I thought I knew about cheese. Your posts are helping me begin that process
@ValeriaA yeah it’s more yellow and it’s dry, sold in rectangular packages, not globes. We also have them, generally sold as “mozzarella for pizza”, even if also on pizza we use original mozzarella in globes: they are more proposed as a low cost alternative at the end. Taste is completely different, but also dry mozzarella in Italy is quite different from mozzarellas elsewhere, as they are still made following original recipes.
The Italian mozzarella is very soft and contains liquid. You can have another view of Italian mozzarella by seeing this Caprese salad! Once an Italian youtuber tried to make tourists taste Italian mozzarella and they were all shocked: it was since that video that I have started guessing mozzarella outside Italy is really different, unless you buy “mozzarella di bufala campana DOP” with DOP trademark as well or go in authentic Italian restaurants.
@user_not_found After all of this, I wish I can taste original italian mozzarella one day! I’ve seen some videos of mozzarella being made, and I get why it’s so soft and it has so much liquid. Anyway… after trying capresse salad a few times, I still prefer the “cheap” mozzarella for pizza, because I’m used to that salty flavor
@ValeriaA I also eat it, but usually not on pizza. My favorite is dried buffalo mozzarella (which loses the DOP trademark in this case, as being dried, it is no longer the original DOP “mozzarella di bufala campana”, even if the starting product is technically still the same, but Italy is very severe when coming to safeguard their food). I just eat it plain, or even use it on caprese, it’s good. But yeah, it’s still different from the dried buffalo mozzarella you can find abroad, I guess. I have seen some dried mozzarellas in USA supermarkets for example, and starting from the color I see they are different even from our dried mozzarella, maybe because the initial product is not made the same Italian way too… but never really tasted them so can’t be 100% sure about how much they are different… only tasted American pizza but well, it’s completely different not only because of mozzarella, but also because sometimes they use also other cheeses.
If you are curious to try authentic Italian mozzarella, you can maybe find it in Argentina supermarkets too, one of the best Italian mozzarellas: the buffalo milk mozzarella. As said it is DOP so it is a protected production: if you find the same “mozzarella di bufala campana DOP” in Argentina supermarkets, it is surely imported from Italy. I have seen them at Tesco too in Ireland, as it is exported worldwide. On buffalo milk mozzarella you can go sure because of the DOP trademark: obviously other mozzarellas are not DOP protected and so everyone can call mozzarella any kind of cheese even barely similar to mozzarella available in Italy. If you are curious to try Italian mozzarella, try to look for the “mozzarella di bufala campana DOP” and you go sure, it is one of the most delicious mozzarellas in Italy too. They can be of different brands, but they still have to present the DOP logo on the label, and be also produced in Italy. Anyway I don’t know if they are imported by Argentina supermarket chains, but you can try to look for an authentic Italian grocery or restaurant as well: maybe looking for “buffalo mozzarella” on Google Maps may help. This just if you want to try it at least once in your life. I think you could still enjoy dried mozzarella if you are already used too, I think it’s quite normal: they are still two very different products and so someone may be used more to one kind. Anyway I am quite sure you can find it in Argentina because this product is really exported in the whole world.
Thank you for sharing this delicious post with us, there is nothing better than a metling slice of Mozarella over a pizza or a hot piece bread.
In Bulgaria, especially in Sofia, there are several Italian shops that import things from Italy and the quality should be similar to the one of the original. However, in different shops and super markets, you may find all kind of Mozarella, from a very cheap, to a much more expensive one.
