Ingredients
Mozzarella di Bufala vs Fior di Latte: Which for Pizza?
Ingredients
Mozzarella di bufala is made from water buffalo milk, fior di latte from cow's milk. Bufala is richer, wetter and more pronounced, so on pizza it often goes on after baking; fior di latte melts better in the oven. At Bottegas in Warsaw we use both: mozzarella di bufala campana DOP goes on our Antica Napoli (55 zł) after baking, while fior di latte bakes on the Fichi e Crudo.
Both are pasta filata cheeses. The curd is covered with hot water and stretched until it turns smooth and elastic, then shaped into balls. The name comes from the Italian “mozzare” – to tear off a piece of the curd by hand.
The difference is the milk. Mozzarella di bufala is made from the milk of water buffalo, raised in Campania for centuries. Fior di latte is mozzarella from cow's milk – in Italy it is simply everyday mozzarella, and many pizzerias in Naples use it on the Margherita.
Neither is “better”. They are two different cheeses that do two different jobs on a pizza.
DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) is the EU's Protected Designation of Origin. Mozzarella di bufala campana DOP can only be made from buffalo milk, within a defined area and under set production rules.
That area is mainly Campania – around Caserta and Salerno – plus parts of Lazio, Puglia and Molise. On the pack, look for the full name and the DOP mark. The word “bufala” alone on a label does not guarantee the cheese comes from there, or that it is made only from buffalo milk.
At Bottegas we use mozzarella di bufala campana DOP; you'll find what's on every pizza in the menu.
Bufala is richer and milkier. It has a slightly tangy, full flavour and a thin, porcelain-white skin. Cut it and milky whey runs out. Inside it is soft, almost creamy.
Fior di latte is milder and sweeter, with the clean taste of fresh cow's milk. It is firmer and springier, and holds less water. Its colour is slightly creamy.
Cold – in a salad or on bread – bufala usually wins. In the oven, it's a different story.
Our oven runs at 485°C and a pizza bakes in a little over a minute. At that heat bufala quickly releases its whey. The centre of the pizza gets wet, and the cheese loses its freshness and turns rubbery. Fior di latte holds less water, melts evenly and colours slightly.
That is why on our Antica Napoli (55 zł) the mozzarella di bufala campana DOP goes on only after baking. Underneath are hand-torn San Marzano DOP tomatoes, with fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil on top. It is the way Naples made pizza before passata and fior di latte became the norm. It is one of our house recommendations.
Fior di latte, on the other hand, goes into the oven where the cheese needs to melt and bind. On the Fichi e Crudo (69 zł) it carries fresh figs, Prosciutto di Parma DOP aged 24 months, honey and toasted almonds. How the dough itself is made, we explain in our piece on pizza contemporanea.
Bufala tastes best at room temperature, with nothing getting in its way. That is why our menu has Caprese di Bufala at 49 zł – a salad where bufala plays the lead.
In season we also serve Crostone di Bufala e Mirtilli at 46 zł: toast made from our pizza dough, topped with bufala DOP, fresh blueberries, basil and honey. The sweetness of fruit and honey brings out the cheese's gentle tang.
Buffalo milk turns up in dessert too: our Pistacchio Cheesecake is made with buffalo-milk ricotta, with pistachio sauce and blueberries.
Stracciatella is shreds of pasta filata soaked in cream. Burrata is a thin pouch of mozzarella curd filled with stracciatella. Both come from Puglia and are even creamier than bufala.
„La” Burrata (55 zł) is fresh burrata with grana padano and basil. Vibrant Vesuvio (55 zł) pairs spicy Calabrian 'nduja and red onion with fresh stracciatella.
You'll find the full list of pizzas with each of these cheeses on our page about Neapolitan pizza in Warsaw.
Look: bufala has a porcelain-white, smooth, slightly shiny skin. Fior di latte is a touch creamier in colour. A yellowish tint or a slimy, sticky surface is a bad sign.
Cutting and smell: fresh mozzarella is springy and releases milky whey when cut. It smells of milk, bufala with a light tangy note. A rubbery ball that is dry inside is no longer fresh.
Storage: keep it in its own liquid and eat it as soon as possible. If it has been in the fridge, take it out ahead of time so it comes up to room temperature before serving. The firm blocks for grating sold in supermarkets are a different product – for baking dishes, not for caprese.
For baking, fior di latte works better – it holds less water and melts evenly. Mozzarella di bufala is best added after baking, as on our Antica Napoli.
The milk. Bufala is made from buffalo milk and is richer, wetter and more pronounced. Fior di latte is cow's milk mozzarella: milder, firmer and better in the oven.
It is the EU's Protected Designation of Origin. Mozzarella di bufala campana DOP is made only from buffalo milk, in a defined area – mainly Campania – and under set rules.
Burrata is a thin pouch of mozzarella curd filled with stracciatella – shreds of pasta filata in cream. It is creamier and comes from Puglia.
At Bottegas: Oboźna 9 in the city centre and Francuska 24 in Saska Kępa. The Antica Napoli with mozzarella di bufala campana DOP costs 55 zł at both.
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