making mozzarella & burrata by hand {video}

One of the things that I am constantly explaining to people is how different the same food/ingredient can be from one region to the next in Italy. Even words like pizza means something completely different depending if you are ordering one in Naples or Rome. The ‘pasta’ you order in Bologna has nothing to do with the dish you order in Salerno. And don’t even get me started on olive oil.

People are always asking me which is the ‘best’. Which is the ‘best’ restaurant in Rome? Which is the best olive oil to use? Which is the best kind of pasta to buy? But best is relative. It has to do with your own personal taste, and certainly has to do with where you.

One of the most delicious differences to explore in Italy is mozzarella. Ask any Italian about mozzarella and the general response is that the best is made from the milk of water buffalos and comes from the area just south of Naples, in Campania. But this is only referring to a very specific type of fresh cheese made only in that area. And only cheese made in that area, from buffalo milk, is legally allowed to be called ‘mozzarella.’ Everything else – made from cow’s milk from the rest of Italy – is called Fior di Latte.

While I’ve had great Fior di Latte all over central and southern Italy I think my favorite comes from Puglia. Maybe I’m biased since Domenico is from Bari, and I think that over the course of our marriage I’ve probably consumed my weight in fior di latte at his mother’s kitchen table. But I learned early on, from my mother in law Rosa, that not all Fior di Latte are created equal. She would always go to specific stores that received the freshest cheeses twice daily.

I’m happy to say that the mozzarella and fior di latte obsession gene has been passed on to Sophie. She was so enamored of these glistening white orbs that she decided to spend last summer learning how to make them, in the little down of Cutrofiano in southern Puglia.

She not only learned the secrets of transforming the crumbly curds into sleek elastic ropes to be twisted into knots, balls and braids, but also learned how to make burrata. Burrata is the decadent Pugliese cousin of fior di latte. To make burrata you first make fior di latte and then tear it into strips, which get mixed with heavy cream. You then form a purse out of another piece of fior di latte, stuff it with the cream mixture, and tie the whole thing with knot at the top. It’s kind of like the turdunken of the mozzarella world.

And if you just can’t be bothered to tear open a burrata to get to the good stuff inside? Then straciatella is for you. Straciatella translates as ‘rags’ and in Puglia straciatella refers to the ‘rags’ of fior di latte in heavy cream. You can buy this in Puglia and it is a dangerous thing. At least with the burrata there is a limit. But with straciatella you can just buy kilos of it! Two of the best ways I’ve had it recently was when Melissa was in town and she topped the straciatella we had shipped up from Puglia with blood oranges. And then there are the simply crostini that are served at Flavio’s in Rome, topped with one perfect anchovy.

I got a chance to visit the caseificio where Sophie was working this past summer to see her teacher, Michele, in action. One of the things that makes this specific fior di latte and burrata so special is that it is made in small batches, completely by hand (much different than the last video I posted about making mozzarella). And before you get all huffy about not using gloves: making mozzarella by hand is all about touch and feel. So even though the water is boiling hot, the cheese maker needs to touch and feel the cheese with his bare hands to make sure the curd has reached the right consistency. 

If you happen to be in Cutrofiano:
Caseifcio Russo
Via Carlo Pisacane 22, Cutrofiano
+39.0836.513.005

For more of my favorite places to stay and eat in Puglia make sure you download my app, Eat Italy. Eat Italy is a free app, with many cities and regions available as in-app purchases (Venice, Rome and Florence) or completely free (Puglia, Umbria, Torino and Milan).

And if you’re curious about my adventures in Puglia and the rest of Italy you can preorder my newest book, Eating My Way Through Italy : Heading Off the Main Roads to Discover the Hidden Treasure of the Italian Table. The book will be published on May 29, 2018.