The Bufala Roams

Lioni Bufala is the first company to manufacture genuine bufala mozzarella in this country. The curd is made in Italy from water buffalo milk; then it's frozen and shipped to Brooklyn and Los Angeles, where Lioni completes the traditional process of melting and stretching the cheese. As a result you can have your bufala (regular or smoked) as quickly as a day after it's made. Available at the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, Cheese and Pasta in Santa Monica and the Gourmet Gala in Pacific Palisades.

Los Angeles Times, Food Section
April 1, 1993

A Cheese of Nuance

Fresh mozzarella has the reputation of being the milquetoast of cheese: bland and beige. But a recent blind tasting of 10 fresh mozzarella cheeses revealed a startling variety of flavors and textures.

In general, you could divide the cheeses along rough lines. Some cheeses tasted more of sweet milk, others of yogurt. Some cheeses were firm, almost to the point of rubberiness, while others were more delicate and cake-like.

The unanimous favorite was from Sal Lioni of Brooklyn, sold at the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills ($10.99 per pound). It had the best of everything - a delicate, flowery cream flavor and a fine cake-like texture."

The last two places were also unanimous: polly-0 ($7.99 per pound) and Trader Joe's store brand ($2.39 per 1/2 pound package. There was nothing awful about either of them, but they were both bland and watery in flavor. polly-O was unpleasantly soft while Trade Joe's was too firm.

After that, results were mixed. Caseificio Gloia's mozzarella ($5.95 to $7.50 per ound) had a smooth, cake-like texture with a pleasant touch of yogurt flavor but was also noticeably saltier than the others. Italia Latticini's cheese ($3.99 per 1/2 pound package) had a more fibrous texture and a bland, sweet milk flavor.

The two cow's milk mozzarella cheeses from Italcheese ($3.99 per 1/2 pound package) were made two weeks apart and tasted very different.

A cheese from Mozzarella Fresca in Benicia, Calif. ($3.99 per 1/2 pound package) had a sweet, uncomplicated fresh milk flavor and was a little more fibrous than most.

The two buffalo mozarella -one from Italy ($7,99 per 1/2 pound package), the other Italcheese's - turned out to be very yogurt-like with a very definite rich, aniimal like flavor that took some tasters by surprise. It's a taste that will take a little getting used to for some.

-Los Angeles Times,
March 18, 1998