What Kind Of Milk Is Used For Mozzarella?

Mozzarella is one of the most popular types of cheese worldwide, especially because of its crucial role in making everyone’s favorite Italian food: pizza. Because of its popularity, you can find mozzarella cheese in almost any store across the country in addition to many online retailers. You will notice, however, that there are some different types of mozzarella cheese, with the main difference being the milk that is used to make it. That is because there is not one type of milk that is used to make this cheese; there are in fact two different types that vary in popularity.

Traditional Mozzarella

When mozzarella was first created, it was made using milk from water buffalo. There is some debate about when exactly water buffalos arrived in Italy but the fact remains that it was their milk that was traditionally used to make mozzarella. Although this milk isn’t the best to drink, it made very high quality cheese that was creamy, white and delicious. During the 1930s and 1940s, however, the number of water buffalo herds in Italy decreased dramatically and that is when they started making mozzarella with cow’s milk as well. Today you can find both varieties.

Water Buffalo Milk

As mentioned, the traditional method of using milk from water buffalos to make mozzarella cheese is still used today. However, because water buffalo are not as common, both in Italy and around the world, this type of mozzarella is fairly rare and much more expensive. In general, if you want to find mozzarella made from water buffalo milk, known as mozzarella di bufala, you will have to look online or go to Italy although specialty cheese shops will have it as well. Despite the difficulty in finding in, mozzarella made from water buffalo milk is creamier and many connoisseurs prefer it.

Cow Milk

The more common option today is to find mozzarella made from cow’s milk, which is known as fior di latte. If you go to your local grocery store and see a cheese that is simply labeled “mozzarella” then it is made from cow’s milk. This is simply because very few areas of the world raise water buffalo; in fact most of the water buffalo milk comes from Italy or Bulgaria. If countries were to rely on this milk to make mozzarella, the cheese would always be extremely expensive. Both types of mozzarella, whether made from water buffalo or cow’s milk, are best when they are fresh.

Other Variations

In addition to the general differences in terms of milk of either the traditional water buffalo’s milk or the more common cow’s milk, there are others as well. In the United States the milk used to make mozzarella is always pasteurized but in other countries such as Italy it can be either pasteurized or unpasteurized. There are also some other variations, such as low-fat mozzarella cheeses that use skim or low fat milk. If you want to find a less common mozzarella such as mozzarella di bufala, your best option is generally to look at online specialty cheese stores.