Mozzarella Really Matters

Even though many other cheeses are gaining popularity as the choice of pizza cheese, mozzarella cheese is still by and large considered “the” cheese for pizza. Even those pies that are sporting the latest and best cheese combinations almost always include mozzarella in the mix, 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 why mess with a good thing?).

Even for those that are interested in the origins of the pizza, it’s fun to know a little more about the history of the products that make it, starting with that all-important staple of the best pizza pie.

Mozzarella is the most popular choice of cheese in history. As with most cheeses, it has been widely considered that mozzarella was most likely discovered by chance. Rumor tells the story that mozzarella was only created when cheese curds fell into a pail of boiling 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 most modern people would expect, but from the milk of water buffaloes.

In fact, true water buffalo mozzarella is considered one of the most marvellous choices to make when cheese matters, however it is not that readily available for everyone; 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 in parts of Italy and from specialty food providers. Just don’t ask us who milks the buffalo!