Buffalo Mozzarella (Mozzarella di Bufala)

Buffalo mozzarella (Mozzarella di Bufala) is a fresh, stretched-curd cheese crafted from the milk of water buffalo in southern Italy. Unlike common supermarket mozzarella made from cow's milk, authentic buffalo mozzarella carries a distinctive lactic sweetness, a creamy body that pulls apart in silky strings, and a gentle acidity that keeps it from tasting flat. The cheese is sold submerged in brine, which preserves its moisture and signature character. Its texture is soft yet elastic—the mark of properly made mozzarella is that it stretches cleanly when pulled apart and yields to pressure without crumbling.

The PDO protection granted in 1996 to Mozzarella di Bufala Campana ensures that true buffalo mozzarella comes from designated farms in Campania, Lazio, and Puglia, where water buffalo graze on pasture, particularly in the spring and autumn months when the milk reaches its peak flavor complexity. The water buffalo themselves yield less milk than cows, but that milk is richer in fat and protein, which translates to a more indulgent cheese with better melting properties. When you encounter a ball of buffalo mozzarella, you are tasting a product shaped by geography, animal diet, and craft—all of which industrial imitations cannot replicate.

In the kitchen, buffalo mozzarella behaves differently than its cow's milk counterpart. It has a higher moisture content (52–60%), which makes it sublime for fresh applications—torn over a Caprese salad, draped across pizza after baking, or nestled into a sandwich. However, that same moisture is its Achilles' heel when exposed to prolonged heat: the cheese will weep, turn rubbery, and lose its creamy character if cooked too long or at too high a temperature. Understanding this duality—its excellence raw versus its limitations under heat—is the key to using buffalo mozzarella well.