Cow's milk or buffalo's milk mozzarella?
Whatever the composition, the French love it.
In addition to having dethroned Camembert, Italian cheese has become the most consumed French cheese during the summer period (1).
Whole with a simple drizzle of olive oil and basil, in tomato salad or melted and stringy on a pizza, its success in France is well established.
Demand even increased by 62% between 2015 and 2020. In its new issue, the magazine
60 million consumers
is carrying out the investigation, and had 12 mozzarellas made from cow's milk and 6 made from buffalo milk tasted by ten jurors who "benefited from five training sessions over three weeks to become familiar with the taste, smell and texture parameters and to develop their sensory acuity.
Their findings were unveiled in the summer issue, July-August 2022, currently on newsstands.
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Buffalos at the top
Known in Italy as
mozzarella di latte di bufala
and originally from the Campania region, buffalo milk mozzarella is the most traditional.
Since 1996, it has had a controlled designation of origin (PDO) "
mozzarella di Bufala Campana
», which covers mozzarella made from 100% buffalo milk.
At its origin?
The female buffalo, a robust animal that produces milk that is sweet, rich in nutrients and much fattier than that of the cow.
Overall “it was the buffalo milk products that won the prize”, thanks to their “more marked odors and taste” and “softer textures and more pleasant in the mouth”.
At the top of the podium, the Casa Azzurra brand (15/20), followed very closely by Zanetti (15/20) and Bio Village (14.5/20), mainly chosen for their appearance, texture and taste.
In terms of price, buffalo milk mozzarella is still more expensive, at €15/16 per kilo on average.
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Mozzarella di latte di Bufala from Casa Azzurra, best according to
60 million consumers
.
Casa Azzura
More accessible: cow's milk
Despite the success of the buffalo version, three cow's milk mozzarellas stand out thanks to their smell, taste and texture, which are similar to their more traditional competitors.
Indeed, the differences in taste are very subtle explains Caroline Boquet, trainer at the French School of Cheese.
“They are often due to variations in the manufacturing process.
Traditionally, lactic ferments are added to milk.
But to go faster and improve the life of the product, manufacturers often replace them with citric acid.
Casino Bio wins first place in this category with a score of 12/20, followed by the Bonneterre and Casa Azzurra brands, both rated 11.5/20.
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Casino Bio Casino mozzarella
Our colleagues' tests confirm that you can find very high-quality cow's mozzarella at an affordable price, ideal for melting on a pizza.
On the other hand, to sublimate a beautiful summer salad, the PDO “
di bufala Campana
” is ideal for its more assured character but still just as creamy.
In any case, it is necessary to choose the freshest possible, that is to say which has a distant use-by date and which is immersed in its preservation liquid in order to preserve its aromas.
(1) The full survey can be found in the magazine
60 million consumers
, currently on newsstands.