The origins of this product are dated back to the introduction of the buffalo in Italy. Many are the hypotheses on the period of insertion of this animal in the tradition of the Italian breeding. The buffalo even having origins in eastern India, for some it would have, regarding the Italian buffalo, native origins, hypothesis reinforced by the retrieval of fossils in the roman countries.The term “Mozzarella” derives sure from the operation of “stumping by hand” practiced in the final phase of the working of the mozzarella. The Borboni dedicated themselves particularly to the breeding of the buffalo, in particular in the real estate of Carditello, where in the middle of 1700 they activated a cheese factory (dairy).
In the zone of Volturno and Sele, today the ancient bufalare (buffalo graze) dating back to those times can still be found.
Today the production area is situated in the entire territory of the province of Caserta and Salerno, in the towns of Amorosi, Dugenta and Limatola in province of Benevento, and those of Acerra, Giugliano, Pozzuoli, Qualiano, Arzano, Cardito, Frattamaggiore, Frattaminore and Mugnano of Naples in province of Naples, besides in some tows of the province of Frosinone, Latina, Rome, Foggia and Isernia. The characteristic of buffalo mozzarella is of course the raw materials employed, the fresh buffalo milk, of which approximately 4,2 liters are necessary in order to produce a kilogram of mozzarella, and the particular working that consists in the operation of the spinning. The spinning by hand consists in working the paste of the cheese till end of maturation with hot water until making it “spin”, in order to obtain the particular consistency of the final product.
For the spinning a cookware and a wooden stick are used, raising and continuously spinning the fused paste until obtaining a homogenous paste. At the end there is the mold preparation, that still today, many, execute by hand with the traditional “mozzatura”, that the cheese producer carries out with the thumb and the index of the hand. The mozzarellas therefore produced are then left to cool in bathtubs containing cold water and finally salted. It’s also allowed the smoking, an ancient and traditional natural process of working, but in such case the denomination of origin must be followed by the wording “affumicata” (smoked).
