Pass the Mozzarella!
No self-respecting Italian can say they’ve eaten real mozzarella…until they’ve tried mozzarella di bufala (buffalo’s mozzarella). In Molise you can find “caseifici” (or cheese factories) that make authentic mozzarella di bufala on almost every street corner.
Obviously, the fresher the mozzarella the stronger the flavour, and let me tell you, it is nothing like the pre-packaged stuff you get in North America (which always seems to go bad before the expiry date!). Fresh mozzarella di bufala is stored in the “siero” (or the water in which it is made) out of the fridge for up to 3 days and is served at room temperature to ensure optimal flavour.
Words (or maybe even this picture) cannot possibly do it justice!
Intolerant to dairy or not, when I visit my husband’s family in Molise we ALWAYS stuff ourselves with mozzarella. It is just too good to pass up…and it doesn’t help that we usually only have 3 or 4 days to get our fix of it! I’ve literally had mozzarella for lunch and dinner for up to THREE days in a row…and I don’t regret one morsel of it!
See the “crazy” look in my eyes?! That’s what this stuff does to me!!
My son’s first meal in Italy…sauteed zucchini, prosciutto and fresh mozzarella di bufala! Yum!
Over the course of our mozzarella binge, I had a revelation: we can compare baby’s growth in the womb to mozzarella di bufala!
For example, in North America we usually compare a growing baby to fruit…
around 10 weeks – a lime
around 20 weeks – a banana
around 30 weeks – a cabbage
(Check out this site to find out all the different fruits and veggies babies are compared to: http://www.babycenter.com/slideshow-baby-size)
In Molise they could easily compare a growing baby to (what else?!)…mozzarella! Take for example the mozzarella in the picture below:
The slice of mozzarella could be compared to a fetus at around 14 weeks, the “treccina” (or “braided”) piece would be around 20 weeks, and the (almost 1 kg!!) piece of mozzarella di bufala would be around 30 weeks! Pretty accurate, don’t you think?! So, at 18 weeks I pretty much have a “treccina” of mozzarella in my belly! 
Want to know more about mozzarella di bufala? Check out this website:
http://www.mozzarelladop.it/index.php?section=prodotto&subsection=storia&index=1
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