Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP

Among  the most famous italian typcal products one of the best is mozzarella di bufala

Buffalo mozzarella (Italian: la mozzarella di bufala) is a mozzarella made from the milk of the domestic Italian water buffalo. It is a product traditionally produced in Campania, especially in the provinces of Caserta and Salerno.
The term mozzarella derives from the procedure called mozzare which means “cutting by hand”, the process of separation of the curd into small balls.

La mozatura dela mozzarella
The buffalo mozzarella sold as Mozzarella di Bufala Campana has been granted the status of Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC – “Controlled designation of origin”) since 1993.
Since 1996 it is also protected under the EU’s Protected Designation of Origin. The Consortium for the Protection of the Buffalo Cheese of Campania is an organization of approximately 200 producers, that, under Italian law, is responsible for the “protection, surveillance, promotion and marketing” of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana.
Database Of Origin & Registration includes product names for foodstuffs registered as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Traditional Specialties Guaranteed (TSG) as well as names for which registration has been applied. For the purpose of this Regulation, ‘designation of origin’ is a name which identifies a product:

Originating in a specific place, region or country; whose quality or characteristics are essentially or exclusively due to a particular geographical environment and the production steps of which all take place in the defined geographical area. ‘Geographical Indication’ is a name which identifies a product originating in a specific place, region or country; whose given quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin; and at least one of the production steps of which take place in the defined geographical area.

Mozzarella di bufala campana DOP

The area of origin of the milk used to produce the “Mozzarella di Bufala Campana” includes part of the administrative territory of Campania region (including Province of Benevento, Caserta, Napoli, Salerno) of Lazio region ( including province of Frosinone, Latina, Rome) and of Puglia region (including Foggia, Cerignola, Manfredonia, San Giovanni Rotondo and others).
The “Mozzarella di Bufala Campana” is produced exclusively with whole buffalo raw fresh milk. The milk must be coming from buffalo reared in the identified area, must be thermised or pasteurized, and mozzarella must be processed as complying with the standard.Bufala
The buffalo herds from which comes the milk must be structured according to local customs with animals from Italian Mediterranean  race, which must be registered on a specific registry and raised semi-free in limited paddocks.
The milk must: possess minimal fat by 7.2% and minimum protein content of 4.2%; the milk is delivered to the dairy, appropriately filtered by conventional means and must be definitely transformed in Mozzarella di Bufala Campana before the 60th hour after the first milking; if not transformed within the 60th hour after the first milking it may not use the designation PDO.

produzione mozzarellaAcidification of milk and curd is obtained by addition of natural whey, resulting from previous processing of buffalo milk occurred in the same company or companies adjacent located in the same area. After heating the milk to a temperature ranging from 330C to 390C, is added natural calf rennet. The maturation of the curd is done under the whey for a variable time in relation to the charge of lactic acid present in the natural whey added. After maturing, the curd is reduced into strips, chopped and placed in appropriate steel tubs. The curd, after mixing with boiling water, is spun, and then severed into single pieces. These are placed in water,for times varying depending on the size, up to firming.

The packaged product must be maintained, to final consumption, in its liquid, acidic, possibly salty. The characteristic acidity of the liquid of government can be obtained by addition of acid lactic or citric acid. The product can be smoked only by natural and traditional means: in this case the designation of origin must be followed by the wording “Smoked”.
Form: in addition to rounded, are allowed other forms such as nuggets, braids, beads, cherries, knots, ovoline; with weight, varying from 10 to 800 grams in relation to the shape. To form a braid, it is allowed weight up to 3 KG.
Appearance: white porcelain, thin crust of approximately one millimeter, smooth surface, never slimy nor thrown;
Pasta: structure of thin leaves which is elastic in the first eight to ten hours after production and packaging, subsequently tending to become more flowing; free of defects such as holes, caused by gaseous or unusual fermentation; no preservatives, inhibitors and dyes; cutting presence of draining in the form of mild serous whitish, fatty, from aroma of lactic ferments;
Taste: characteristic and delicate;denominazione d'origine
Fat in dry matter: minimum 52%;
Maximum humidity: 65%.
The logo of the PDO ‘Mozzarella di Bufala Campana “is represented at the top by a red sun in radiate, at the center from the profile of the head of a buffalo in black color, in the lower part by a green background where stands the inscription “Mozzarella di Bufala” in white; and the bottom words “Campana” in green.

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


*