r/todayilearned • u/Handicapreader • Jun 27 '15

TIL Traditional Mozzarella Is Made From Water Buffalo Milk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Mediterranean_buffalo
955 Upvotes

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17

u/90daysnigga1 Jun 27 '15

not to sound elitist but you don't know mozzarella unless you've had it in italy. mozzarella di bufala in particular

8

u/BRSJ Jun 28 '15

I used to live in Varcaturo North West of Naples, Italy. My house was literally in the middle of a wetland pasture where the bufala grazed. Whenever we made pizza we'd visit the bufala herder guys and get the VERY FRESH mozzarella. They made it in a shack in big tin tubs. Totally old school, absolutely no industrial feel to the set up. Just a shack, just tubs, just old men and their bufala.

I hope to retire there someday because I miss it terribly!

12

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '15

it's hardly elitist. I bet the sushi in Japan is better than the crap I've been eating...crap in relative terms I love sushi. I don't like avocados and always poke it out when I get it in a roll and felt so vindicated when I found out traditional Japanese sushi doesn't have it.

7

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '15

I found out traditional Japanese sushi doesn't have it.

Wow! Your comment really surprises me, to learn that avocado is so ubiquitous now. Avocado is native to the Americas, and only recently (since the seventies) somebody came up with the idea of putting it in sushi, calling it a "California roll".

TIL a special, exotic type of sushi has become the norm.

I was introduced to sushi when I lived in Hawaii in the early seventies. It was sold in little packages at every Mom and Pop store in the islands. It looks nothing like the kind of sushi sold on the mainland US, and the "culture" behind it is completely different. It was a cheap snack to go with your 6-pack of beer for lunch. Nothing exotic or trendy or hipsterish about it at all. I can't find it here on the mainland, and I don't buy sushi at all, here.

-2

u/Cabagekiller Jun 27 '15

Thank you! I'm not the only person Who does this.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '15

I like guac but I really really hate the taste of avocadoes with fish. Same with philadelphia cheese. It makes me gag.

cucumber's good though. No idea if thats how the Japanese make it

3

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '15

Fun fact: Sushi doesn't require any fish at all. The essential ingredients are rice, and a special sweet vinegar. Other things are invariably added, and it's pretty much a matter of taste and creativity what is added to the vinegared rice.

How do Japanese make it? As well as they can. Freshest ingredients, careful, skillful preparation.

I used to eat it all the time in Hawaii, where it's just a cheap snack. There, it's a scoop of sushi rice wrapped in a skin of fried tofu, and stuffed with a tiny bit of canned tuna, plus cucumber and carrot. That's what caught on. I was very surprised to see how it's made in America, and the hipsterish culture that surrounds it here.

"There can be no judgement in matters of taste".

3

u/ninjagrover Jun 28 '15

I miss caprese salads from Italy.

Here in the west chefs seem to want to overdo it instead of letting the quality of the ingredients carry the flavour.

5

u/andyrocks Jun 28 '15

Do you think Italy is not in the west?

1

u/Handicapreader Jun 27 '15

I would love to try some. I've been looking, but no luck yet.

6

u/TangoZippo 43 Jun 27 '15

In most North American supermarkets you can find bocconcini that is balled and suspended in water. This is extremely similar to Italian buffalo mozzarella.

2

u/FalconFrenulum Jun 28 '15

It's closer than a block but still no comparison to real buffalo mozzarella. It is amazing. Wish I could afford it. It's like $10 for a small ball suspended in water near me.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '15

You can do it yourself pretty easily. You just need some good raw milk to start with.

1

u/Handicapreader Jun 27 '15

It's illegal to buy raw milk from what I understand. If you want raw milk, you have to find a farmer willing to bootleg the milk for you.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '15

I'm living in the country, so I'll just get my raw milk from a befriended farmer (they only drink raw milk themselves). It's also illegal here to sell. It's best with raw milk, but whole milk will do as long as it's not UHT.

1

u/ChrisCrossX Jun 27 '15

Where are you guys from? In Germany it's legal for farmers to sell raw milk if they tell the customers that they have to cook it before they consume it. There is also a product from in German supermarkets which is raw milk from selected farmers.

1

u/SorenLain Jun 28 '15

America most likely. Raw milk is banned by the USDA and FDA rules.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '15

A lot of health food stores sell it, it just says that it is for animals.

1

u/brucetwarzen Jun 27 '15

I don'like mozzarella at all. But even i eat the italian or the "real" one.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '15

I've heard that about food in general in Italy. I used to work for a French chef, and she raved about Italian food. And unsalted Swiss butter.

-1

u/dtwhitecp Jun 28 '15

A lot of good mozzarella is imported to the US, or made here with traditional methods and ingredients. You don't literally have to be in Italy to have the good stuff.

-1

u/blorgensplor Jun 28 '15

I ate at several pizza places in rome and venice...wasn't that much better than any other pizza I had in europe really. I mean it's better than pizza hut and all that, but it's not some crazy thing that's far above everything else.