Caserta mozzarella is a traditional Italian cheese that has been hand-crafted by local farmers. Caserta mozzarella has been made from cow’s milk for over 200 years and tastes medium mild.
What is Caserta mozzarella?
Caserta mozzarella is a traditional Italian cheese that has been hand-crafted by local farmers. Caserta mozzarella has been made from cow’s milk for over 200 years and tastes medium mild.
How do you make Caserta Mozzarella?
Producing this type of cheese is not easy as it requires time, patience, and dedication. Here are the steps:
Purchase of raw milk
Select the best quality cheese starter culture (which has been freeze-dried) at a higher price. The product must be stored in a clean and cool place with low humidity levels. Scalding of milk occurs at 39-40 degrees Celsius for 20 to 60 minutes, depending on desired consistency. After that, rennet is added, and it produces a glutinous layer that separates casein from fat in the final product. This process also causes the solidification of coagulated proteins within milk, causing curd formation. Then the curd is cut into small cubes, which then undergo further heating until the mass becomes acidified with lactic acid resulting in continuous whey separation and the formation of a compact, lump-free mass.
This is followed by salting or bringing mozzarella balls for 30 to 60 minutes to produce the desired salt content in the final product.
The cheese has a shape that it holds during maturation, and it is covered with special plastic netting, which allows air circulation and a proper drying effect. Drying will start at around 35 degrees Celsius until they reach a humidity level of about 95 per cent when they enter the packaging room, where storage continues under a refrigeration regime at 6 degrees Celsius.
Restaurants that serve Caserta mozzarella
Caserta mozzarella can be served either on its own or accompanied with fruits like grapes, kiwi, apple or pear slices, onion rings or tomatoes. You will not have a hard time finding restaurants that serve this type of cheese because it is very common in the region of Campania, and you can also find restaurants in other places that serve Italian dishes.
What are its benefits?
Caserta mozzarella is not cholesterol-free and has high proteins content, which makes it an excellent food for people who want to lose weight because it is filling and rich in calcium, so your bones will be healthier as well as muscular. It contains lactose, so people with lactose intolerance should not eat it. It contains lactic acid, which helps digestion and strengthens the immune system while promoting probiotic function.
How do you store Caserta Mozzarella?
Housing conditions are very important if you want your cheese to stay fresh for a long time. The ideal temperature should be kept at around 2 degrees Celsius because the freezing point of cheese is minus 20 degrees Celsius, so once the temperature drops below this level, microbial activity will increase, causing spoilage of mozzarella.
You can keep it in the refrigerator but make sure that the doors are closed tightly to prevent moisture from entering product packaging as excessive moist may cause rapid growth of bacteria in the form of pimples on the product’s surface. In addition, these microorganisms may spread to other cheese slices and may cause spoilage of the entire package.
How long can you keep Caserta Mozzarella?
If you follow the proper storage requirements mentioned above, mozzarella will last several days in a refrigerator. Even if it has been cut into pieces, as long as they are wrapped properly, they can remain good for consumption after three to four days. However, the sooner you eat this type of cheese once purchased, the better because it is an irreplaceable ingredient that makes pizza and pasta more delicious.