Burrata is a unique, fresh Italian cheese, made with buffalo milk, that has a secret surprise. From the outside, it most resembles a ball of mozzarella, but in fact, this is a deception.

It looks like a ball of mozzarella because, it is mozzarella. Well, not quite. Burrata has an outer shell that is solid mozzarella, but the inside is cream. The creaminess is where burrata gets it’s name, meaning “buttered” in Italian.

It’s relationship to mozzarella

While burrata is by no means mozzarella, it is made with some mozzarella. And, in Nora Singley’s article, she explains that mozzarella is a pulled curd or pasta filata cheese, which means that it is made from the elastic curd of fresh milk. The key difference is that mozzarella is a solid ball, where as burrata is actually just a mozzarella balloon filled with cream and soft stringy bits of curd, called rags, which are byproducts of mozzarella production.

Did you know?

All mozzarella in Italy must be made with water buffalo milk. buffalo milk lacks carotene which normally gives milk a slight yellow color; and, it also has a higher butterfat content. Anything similar made with cows milk is called fior di latte or fiordilatte. In other countries though, there isn’t a mozzarella police to keep people from making mozzarella with cow’s milk.

Burrata is usually served fresh, at room temperature. It has a very mild taste and smell, and very creamy taste. While there are a variety of ways to serve burrata the best is just to keep is simple: bread, olive oil. You can season it too with salt and pepper if you’d like.

What’s your favorite burrata recipe? Let me know in the comments.