Author Topic: Bufala Mozz (Read 7562 times)

varasano · « **on:** July 17, 2006, 02:26:10 PM »

Can anyone recommend a brand of very high quality Bufala Mozz? It's hard to find and when I do find it, it's usually too old. I just bought a batch from Whole foods and it was literally rancid and I had to return it. I still have yet to find a super high quality cheese in Atlanta.

Jeff

tonymark · « **Reply #1 on:** July 17, 2006, 03:07:15 PM »

You may want to check out Antico Mercante http://www.antico-mercante.com/cheeses.htm near Atlanta. You may be able to talk them in to selling it to you. I was considering ordering some of their flour through a local pizzeria, but went with another source.

I think the problem is more of a freshness issue. I was recently disappointed with some cow milk fresh mozzarella from my local Whole Foods. Maybe purchasing straight from the importer will reduce the chances of "old" cheese.

TM

scott r · « **Reply #2 on:** July 17, 2006, 04:58:06 PM »

I think we need someone like Marco to chime in on this one but I swear I have noticed a degradation in the quality of all the brands available to me (right now 5 brands) during these hot summer months.

Marco, anyone, am I crazy?

?

Still my favorite cheese, just not as high quality as winter/spring/fall. Could it be what the cows have to graze on is different in the summer? Maybe the summer months just screw up the cheese because of the heat and all the BS they must go through to get over here to the US.

Jeff, all five of the Italian brands seem to taste exactly the same to me. except one, and I have forgotten the name, but I will get back to you. The only buffalo mozzarella I would avoid would be the domestic ones. They have not tasted right at all to me the two times I have tried them.

Although my research has lead me to different conclusions you should definitely read this.

http://www.rurou.org/archives/000227.html

I have found that my pizza is much better if I buy my buffalo mozzarella by the case wholesale where I can get it within a few days of manufacture. Believe it or not I then freeze my extra and that still turns out giving me a better product than if I buy at whole foods/trader joes etc. Obviously I don't recommend freezing it for ultimate flavor, but that is how bad it is on the shelves at most grocery stores. On top of that you can get HUGE discounts buying by the case.

scott r · « **Reply #3 on:** July 17, 2006, 11:45:06 PM »

jeff, just thinking about this more. This stuff is too perishable for most companies to deal with shipping the product around the US on a truck. Whole foods is most likely getting their cheese from someone locally there in Atlanta. Here in Boston it is a specialty cheese importer who gets it flown in weekly from Italy. If I were you I would ask whole foods who that is. If they won't tell you go through your phone book under wholesale cheese and call around to find out who has buffalo mozzarella. The places that sell to grocery stores tend to have smaller sized cases than the places that sell to pizzerias. I am able to buy 8 125g balls in one case from the wholesalers who sell to grocery stores, where the pizzeria suppliers tend to carry cases that are much larger. The price ends up being exactly half what whole foods sells them for. Thats a big markup!

I was able to bribe my local cheese supplier to sell me one case at a time by bringing him pizza. Most of the guys who work at these places are hardcore foodies and they will freak out when they have something as quality as I know your pies are. The other bonus is that these places also sometimes sell high quality olive oil/romano/tomatoes/butter/olives etc. I don't mind buying a case of oil because a bottle makes an excellent birthday/Christmas gift to my friends who cook. Once you get in the door that first time with a larger order and they get to know you (and how serious your pizza is) they will usually be much more forgiving of smaller cheese only orders.

varasano · « **Reply #4 on:** July 18, 2006, 10:14:51 AM »

Thanks Guys. I'm going to try that http://www.antico-mercante.com/cheeses.htm place. It looks like they have a lot of high quality stuff and they are about 20 minutes from here.

Despite the cheese problem, my pies last night were really very good. Not quite round (they were stretched out by a 'trainee') but very tasty and super light. These were about 2 minutes even at about 840F using a blend of caputo and KA bread flour with a 2 day cold rise and a very wet dough. The bufala mozz is from whole foods (I returned the rancid batch for another brand). The cheese was not that fresh, but tasted ok on the pie.

When I get a chance, I will post a report on my comparison of UPN vs. Luzzos, along with photos.

arlo_54 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 18, 2006, 12:15:09 PM »

Great looking pie

. There are two frams in the US that I know of that produce Bufala. One is in California and one is in Vermont. Here is a link to the producer in Vermont http://www.starhilldairy.com/prod_mozzarella.shtml
They used to take online orders and ship over night. Unfortunately it seems they do not do that anymore. I'm sorry I can't remember the fram in californias name. They may not be like the Mozz from Italy but the reduced shipping time ussualy means the consumer recives a very fresh product.

varasano · « **Reply #6 on:** July 18, 2006, 01:38:51 PM »

Interesting article. The whole foods near me is on the store locator list, but I didn't see it there. I will look again.

Thanks,

Jeff

gottabedapan · « **Reply #7 on:** July 18, 2006, 02:56:02 PM »

Quote from: arlo_54 on July 18, 2006, 12:15:09 PM

I'm sorry I can't remember the fram in californias name.

Bubalus Bubalis

Sacs · « **Reply #8 on:** July 18, 2006, 04:25:29 PM »

Wegmans grocery store in central NY has been selling imported Gustosella brand buffalo mozz. It cost about $7.50 for a 7oz. ball. I tried it this weekend and I liked it, but I don't really have any other brands locally to compare it to. Has anyone else tried this brand??

scott r · « **Reply #9 on:** July 18, 2006, 04:32:42 PM »

yes, that is one of the good ones. Enjoy!

Wallman · « **Reply #10 on:** July 18, 2006, 09:39:08 PM »

I don't remember the brand, but Trader Joe's grocery store has buffalo mozzarella that's pretty good. I would also recommend the Bubalus Bubalis.

Pete-zza · « **Reply #11 on:** July 19, 2006, 03:06:43 PM »

Quote from: scott r on July 17, 2006, 04:58:06 PM

I think we need someone like Marco to chime in on this one but I swear I have noticed a degradation in the quality of all the brands available to me (right now 5 brands) during these hot summer months.

Marco, anyone, am I crazy??

Still my favorite cheese, just not as high quality as winter/spring/fall. Could it be what the cows have to graze on is different in the summer? Maybe the summer months just screw up the cheese because of the heat and all the BS they must go through to get over here to the US.

scott,

I was reading an article on domestic cheese pricing recently and read that there are seasonal variations in cheese based on supply and demand. I have excerpted the pertinent part as follows:

Reasons for this seasonal variation can be summed up rather simply as follows: supply and demand. More specifically, milk and cheese production tend to peak in the spring (March through May) and bottom out in mid- to late summer (July through September). And component levels in milk (protein and fat), which are key to making cheese, tend to peak in the fall, winter and early spring and decline as the weather warms up.

I don't know if the above applies to imported bufala di mozzarella, but possibly it does. If so, you have one heck of a palate

.

Peter

varasano · « **Reply #12 on:** July 19, 2006, 05:47:55 PM »

The cheese buyer at Whole foods said the bufala mozz goes bad very fast in transport during the summer and he recommended using cow's milk during that season.

Jeff

scott r · « **Reply #13 on:** July 19, 2006, 08:52:17 PM »

what I am referring to is a loss in flavor with totally fresh buffalo mozzarella that I noticed this summer. You know if it is not fresh because the liquid starts to go cloudy and the cheese is not firm.

JPY · « **Reply #14 on:** July 21, 2006, 03:40:45 PM »

Trader Joe's has some imported from Italy, I forgot the brand name. It comes in a small container.

abc · « **Reply #15 on:** September 11, 2006, 12:28:57 PM »

Quote from: arlo_54 on July 18, 2006, 12:15:09 PM

Great looking pie . There are two frams in the US that I know of that produce Bufala. One is in California and one is in Vermont. Here is a link to the producer in Vermont http://www.starhilldairy.com/prod_mozzarella.shtml
They used to take online orders and ship over night. Unfortunately it seems they do not do that anymore. I'm sorry I can't remember the fram in californias name. They may not be like the Mozz from Italy but the reduced shipping time ussualy means the consumer recives a very fresh product.

thanks for the info, i think i had known of the CA one you're thinking of but had wondered about on on the east coast... i'll keep an eye out for their stuff. i doubt though, they are much cheaper than the imported italian one.

David · « **Reply #16 on:** September 21, 2006, 11:21:20 AM »

Quote from: scott r on July 17, 2006, 04:58:06 PM

Believe it or not I then freeze my extra and that still turns out giving me a better product than if I buy at whole foods/trader joes etc.

Do you drain the Brine off prior to freezing Scott or freeze everything together?

scott r · « **Reply #17 on:** September 21, 2006, 11:25:38 AM »

I have done it both ways with good results both times.

The time I let it go the longest is when I picked up a case for a party and then had to cancel because my work had a last minute (month long) trip to Los Angeles....... AAAH the joys of being in the music business.

Anyhow, I came back and left it in the freezer for another full month, so two months total. All the cheese was in brine, and it still blew away the weeks old crap they sell me at trader joes when I defrosted it.

varasano · « **Reply #18 on:** September 21, 2006, 11:36:52 AM »

I'm still getting my cheese from Whole Foods. The cheese in the last pie was 100% different than the cheese I got during the summer when it was hotter. It was much firmer and fresher. So there is a seasonal component, as some have suggested.

Brooklyn Stroonze · « **Reply #19 on:** October 05, 2006, 12:01:34 PM »

This link might be helpful:

http://www.mozzarelladibufala.org/allestimento.htm

I would stay away from any Mozzarella di Bufala not produced in Campania, It is a totally different product.

Enjoy!