Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

Photo courtesy of Mozzarella Company of Dallas, TX.

Wonderful fresh mozzarella cheese! There is no comparison to the rubbery commercial variety available in supermarkets. Fresh mozzarella is moist and soft, quick-melting, and delicate tasting (a little bland).

Mozzarella was originally made from water-buffalo milk in Italy. Most fresh mozzarella now comes from cow's milk, both in Italy and here in North America.

It's delicious tossed into hot pasta, the heat of which is just enough to melt the cheese. You'll usually see unsalted mozzarella in a container of water. Refrigerate it in its water and don't expect it to last longer than a few days.

History of Mozzarella Cheese From the Roma Bella Mozzarella Company.

2,000 years ago Rome was the master of the world and Julius Caesar was the master of Rome. One of Rome's many conquests was the country of Egypt and its beautiful Queen Cleopatra. Caesar returned to Rome and sent his counsel, Anthony, to administer the conquest.

Legend has it that Anthony and Cleopatra fell in love and spent many idyllic hours cruising the Nile on the barges pulled by water buffalo, eating sumptuous meals and feasting on cheese made from the milk of the water buffalo. The Egyptians, seeing the passion between the two, came to regard the protein and vitamin rich cheese as a prime motivator in this mad affair. Anthony became such a lover of the cheese he sent water buffalo back to Rome as a gift to Caesar, with instructions on how to make the milk into mozzarella. Overnight the cheese became a staple of the Roman diet and all of Southern Italy. The breeding of the water buffalo became a passion in its own right in the area between Rome and Naples. Over the centuries, the wholesomeness of the produce sustained the Italian people and could not be duplicated anywhere else.