Seek out new things to eat whenever you can
- Scott Daniels: We Ate Well and Cheaply
- September 20, 2018
- 1283
Speaking of soft, pale Italian cheese that can be plugged into a lot of good uses, mozzarella appears in the stores in our area in large and small balls, pre-grated, sliced and in the form of string cheese sticks.
Not long ago I was in a large enough western city to find large markets with the kinds of things we don’t normally get in rural-ish Ohio. Among the wonders I found was a form of mozzarella with which I was unfamiliar: burrata. It may be rather scarce around here, but give me a moment to describe it and you’ll be on the hunt, as I was after a taste.
Burrata is a soft ball of cow’s milk mozzarella that is twisted together at one side. Inside the ball is a very creamy, soft, buttery curd, almost like cottage cheese. The inside is so buttery-sweet that the name of the cheese accounts for it.
Burrata means “buttered” in Italian. Served at room temperature, poking into this little white ball of goodness releases the inner gooey bit, which tends to quickly take on the flavor of whatever accompaniment is offered.
It’s sold in tubs, submerged in liquid to keep it fresh and soft. The flavor is very mild, only slightly more tangy than the usual mozzarella you’re used to.
It’s popularly served with halved cherry tomatoes that have been quickly heated with a little garlic and olive oil. Because it is very versatile, it also goes well with sweet flavors, so you often see it offered with figs and a honey-balsamic glaze. It would do well on a dried meats and cheese board with crusty bread and some flavored, warm extra virgin olive oil for dipping.
Back home regular searches at our grocery stores yielded absolutely zero packages of burrata anywhere. Ordering it online would take us right out of the eating well and cheaply category: The cheese is cheap enough, but having a chilled cheese shipped in small quantities can be awfully pricey.
Burrata is a cheese that can be made at home without a great amount of fuss, and I have friends who have done it, but home cheesemaking is something I’ve personally never tried. In this case burrata is made from a specific mozzarella process and stretched, so I’ll wait to watch someone do it first.
Finally The Wine Rack of New Philadelphia rescued me and agreed to order a few tubs of my newfound cheese love for their case. Local sources who will work with you to procure offbeat foods and ingredients are valuable friends to make.
Experimenting a bit and reaching for the obvious mozzarella connection, we found it to be an amazing addition to pizza. Because it is so soft, I don’t know that it would stand up to being baked for the time needed to get a pizza done in a hot oven. But a ball of it placed in the center of a pizza just out of the oven, allowed to rest there a moment to warm, then slit open with a sharp knife, yields up the buttery insides, which can be spread easily over the center of the pie, making for some amazingly rich bites.
If you happen to have a kitchen torch flame for making creme brûlée, you can speed the process along a bit by gently passing the torch flame over it.
Seek out new things to eat whenever you can. You never know what new treats you’ll fall in love with.