Category Archives: Cheese

Why Fresh Mozzarella Isn’t Refrigerated

Walk down the aisles of your local supermarket and you will likely find something claiming to be mozzarella in the refrigerated section. Even in Italy, you can find little plastic bags filled with water and a ball of white cheese sitting in the fridge. But the truth is that most Italians would never dream of […]

Farmer’s Markets in Rome: Speaking to Campagna Amica’s Pietro

man cutting prosciutto by hand at a farmer's market in Rome

Where did you last do your grocery shopping? Chances are, you probably went to a supermarket–I know I did, and so did many Italians. In 2016, there were some 30,000 supermarkets in Italy, and that number has only grown since.  Traditionally, Italians did their shopping at mercati rionali, open neighborhood markets usually held in the main square […]

How Food Labels with DOP and IGP Help Preserve Italian Culinary Heritage

Note from the Editor: I have a Masters Degree in Food Policy and it still took me years to decipher Italian food labels because they seem to be stamped and stickered with all kinds of abbreviations. However, there is a rhyme and reason behind the madness of exactly what DOP and IGP (and all of […]

What is burrata cheese? (And how do you eat it?)

Balls of fresh cheese, known as burrata cheese, resting on a plate after being handmade in Italy

Burrata cheese is a fresh cheese from the region of Puglia in Italy, but to really understand what burrata is, you first need to know about stracciatella. “Stracciatella” is also a fresh cheese that comes from Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot. Stracciatella refers to “strips” and it literally is a cheese made from strips […]

A Cheese Lover’s Guide to Rome

Cheese is one of the big reasons I get up in the morning. Aged? Bring it on. New? Can’t get enough. Soft? Spread it on bread. Hard? Eat it plain. In my book, it is alllll good. I have always loved cheese. I thought I knew something about cheese. And then I moved to Rome […]