Fior di latte

[james]

We have found an very good producer of Fior de Latte locally. It's a cow milk mozzarella made with the same processes at Mozzarella di Bufala. Hand made processes, pulling, shaping, etc. The producer even owns the cows and has a high quality and consistent supply of milk from a few miles away. I will try to get photos of the process. They pack the balls in a hand tied baggie with water from the production.

It is not as creamy inside the ball as Mozzarella di Bufala, and not as tangy. You can definitely taste and feel the difference, but on the specturm of mozzarella, where a hard ball of dried mozzarella is a 1, and fresh Mozzarella di Bufala di Campania is a 10, it's a solid 7.5. The taste is good, ane the texture is soft and springy. It's much better than the supermarket Mozzarella you find in Italy, which is sealed in a baggie with water.

For anyone who lives close to an Italian import market, it's an upgrade from a more generic Mozzarella. Definitely worth a try.
James

[james]

Fior di latte -- redux

We ate in a restaurant this evening that had three different Pizza Margherita.

The basic model, then a Margherita with fior di latte for about $1 more, or a Margherita with small cherry tomato sized mozzarella di bufala for about $3 more.

We shot for the middle, don't ask me why, for a Pizza Margherita as an appetizer, and it was outstanding. You could taste the quality of the cheese. More body adn flavor than basic mozzarella, and though not as tangy as the di bufala, it was perfect on a pizza.

Mozzarella di bufala in a Caprese salad, and fior di latte on your pizza seems to work.
James