Macchi Inc.'s Buffalo Mozzarella - Photos by Montreal Photographer Vadim Daniel

We don’t realize how fortunate we really are, when we so easily can get the Buffalo Mozzarella at our nearest, medium or large chain, grocery store.

This item is a fairly perishable cheese and it is imported from Italy.

From the day of production, you have 30 days until it has reached the “best-before-date”, which means that by the time it reaches our nearest grocery store, it has less than 21 days left before it goes bad.

It’s also on the fixed menu in most of our restaurants in and outside the city!

It is important not to mix the Buffalo Mozzarella with its cousin the Mozzarina/Fiore di latte. The latter’s base is cow’s milk and not buffalo milk. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with Mozzarina/Fiore di latte, it is very good for different purposes and there is a slight price difference since it can be locally made ( Canada or US ).

How do you know that Buffalo Mozzarella you just bought is an authentic Italian import?

You look for the “D.O.P Conzorsio” logo, which guaranties the authenticity of the cheese.

Before serving the cheese make sure you’ve had it in room temperature for at least 15 minutes, if it’s too cold, you will not be able to notice much of it’s delicate taste.

The retail price for a 200 g “ball” is approximately 11$ CAD.

How can Buffalo Mozzzarella be served?

Besides from the traditional way of using it sliced with a fruit or vegetable, it can also be used on a pizza or a pasta dish.

I would recommend you take the gamble and figure out yourself how you would enjoy Buffalo Mozzarella by pulling this “ace of spades” of cheeses and throwing it on the table. Let me know what the outcome ends up being!

Macchi Inc.'s Buffalo Mozzarella - Photos by Montreal Photographer Vadim Daniel

Let me introduce to all of you the “Ace of Spades” of cheeses: Buffalo Mozzarella!

It is very often the first plate decorating a dinner table; the first tray emptied at a buffet; and it works wonders with just a few slices of tomatoes added, as a complete and very satisfying lunch!

Therefor the “Ace of Spades”, being the strongest card in a deck, this is in my opinion the strongest product on a menu, even stronger in a summer menu.

….and yes, it did get it’s name because it’s made of buffalo milk, considering it makes such a good tasting cheese, the milk on it’s own is not at all recommended to consume.

A little bit of history:

There is a little bit of conflict in the history of where the water buffalos originated from, some say that they were brought in from India and others decline that, proven the fact that the ones from Italy, have a “larger” and different body structure than the buffalos from India and also, based on fossils found in the Roman country side.

If you ask me, I couldn’t really care less =), what is certain is that the Buffalo Mozzarella is originated in Italy from the region of Campagnia. Around the 11th century the coastal plains of the lower Tyrrhenian area became swamplands, which made it the ideal environment for raising buffalos.

It’s from the second last step of production, which is the actual shaping of the cheese that the name Mozzarella derives from; “while one cheesemaker holds up the spun paste, the other must “mozzare”/cut it using the thumb and the forefinger.”

Mozarella is a cheese that is all about texture!

But to say that there is no flavor to it is also a misconseption . It does have a very mild and creamy taste with a hint of sour.
With a delicate and silky interior and the slightly firmer exterior, the Buffalo Mozzarella has without convincing, very easily, captured every cheese lovers and even some none cheese lovers hearts.

My advice to you; take a look at the recipes posted yesterday and the day before, then go get yourself a “ball” of Buffalo Mozzarella and create your own favorite recipe!

I’ll be “seeing” you tomorrow with some more tips & tricks!

Hope you all had a great weekend, I had a really good but hectic one so please bear with me! Having managed to somehow delete today’s post we will have to start with what was initially supposed to be Thursdays post, today.

Let me introduce to all of you: BUFFALO MOZZARELLA! I have below two magical ways of serving the Buffalo Mozzarella, watch and indulge.

Buffalo Mozzarella Recipe by Chef Stefano Leone

WATER BUFFALO MOZZARELLA ENTRÉE

This will be the second time that Stefano Leone has generously donated a picture that I can share with you all here on my blog.
He is not only one of my favorite Chefs but also a dear friend of Paolo’s and mine, that I have not seen for 5 years, but thanks to Facebook I am still able to at least see how from “best” he still manages to continue getting better, go figure!

• Water buffalo mozzarella
• Cashew nuts
• Pesto
• Oven roasted tomato crostino

Thank You, Stefano!

Caprese di Buffala Recipe by Restaurant Lucca's Team

CAPRESE DI BUFALA

The most traditional way of having Buffalo Mozzarella is a Caprese di Bufala.
I have it over and over again and I can never stop enjoying having it that way!
But I must say that even though it seems so simple to make, this “simple” dish can taste very differently depending on where and how you have it.
Personally I prefer when the tomatoes are sweet but yet slightly tart and just the “right” amount of balsamic vinegar.

That is exactly how they serve this “plate” at Restaurant Lucca in “Little Italy”, so I asked Paolo if he could do me the huge favor and go over there to get me a picture of that plate so that I could share it with all of you.

• Buffalo Mozzarella
• Vigne ripened Tomatoes
• Fresh basil
• Reduced balsamic vinegar
• Evoo ( extra virgin olive oil )

A warm thank you to the kitchen staff at Restaurant Lucca!