Campania’s White Gold is Good for Your Health
Buffalo mozzarella is a fresh, soft, stretched-curd cheese, called buffalo mozzarella because it is made exclusively with fresh buffalo milk. Its name derives from the fact that the stretched curd obtained is “mozzata”, that is, cut and shaped into its characteristic forms.
Mozzarella should be stored in salted whey and should never be frozen because its consistency risks becoming floury.
We often confuse buffalo mozzarella with fiordilatte, perhaps because they have the same shape, but mozzarella has a light crust on the surface, while fiordilatte has a smoother and more uniform surface. Tasty, nutritious and succulent, buffalo mozzarella is also the most exported and most requested product of our country, a source of pride and satisfaction for Made in Italy.
Where does mozzarella originate?
The first documents on mozzarella date back to 1400 but an even more ancient origin cannot be excluded, when buffalo were imported into Italy by the Lombards in the 6th century AD.
The first traces of buffalo farms appear in the surroundings of Capua in the province of Caserta. Buffalo products were transported between Aversa and some places in the Salerno area, as mozzarella is a fresh product and difficult to transport to more distant places.
From the mid-1700s until the unification of Italy, the production of such products in southern Italy corresponded to one of the first examples of a dairy industry in Europe, and was constantly evolving. From historical notes it is therefore clear that buffalo mozzarella, unique and inimitable, is a product of Campanian origin and can be produced mainly in the Campania and surrounding areas.
Why is it good for your health?
During a conference in Naples, promoted by the Consortium for the protection of Mozzarella di Bufala cheese, some experts certified that buffalo mozzarella is good for your health. In particular, the digestion of mozzarella produces proteins that have an antioxidant action that protects the intestinal cells, which regenerates the mucosa.. This characteristic is also confirmed by Dr. Manuela Pastore, dietician at Humanitas.
Furthermore, compared to other mozzarellas, it does not contain an excessive amount of salt and lactose (often even lower than “highly digestible” products) and also has a low amount of sodium. Buffalo mozzarella from Campania also contains a high amount of biologically valuable proteins, but also calcium and phosphorus and vitamins such as B1, B2, B6, E and niacin.
For this reason, buffalo mozzarella is at the center of studies on nutraceutical sciences to understand whether it can be applied in the treatment of metabolic disorders.
Proper nutrition
Buffalo mozzarella is one of the cheeses that can be used both for low-calorie and low-sodium diets (against hypertension), but also in moderation in those against hypercholesterolemia.a.
Such diets must always contain, in addition to mozzarella, seasonal vegetables. From this follows the most famous and traditional dish: the caprese. Creating buffalo mozzarella dishes with tomatoes, eggplants or courgettes is useful for the presence of potassium in the vegetables, which becomes an obstacle against the sodium of the mozzarella.
