Good Afternoon Cheesy1’s,
Today is a special day for me as it’s my birthday and I’m bringing Scamorza to the blog this week. I recently ventured into my local Tesco and as I do with any food shop I scour the shelves for all things cheese. Having heard of smoked Mozzarella but never tried it I felt this was the perfect opportunity to make a purchase. Once I got it home I left it for a few days to figure out how I would present this to you. I thought to keep it simple so some delicate & delicious 14 months matured Parma Ham with an accompaniment of organic sun-ripened tomatoes for a little sweetness. Bellisimo in one word! The flavours all worked really well even though Scamorza is a beechwood smoked Mozzarella it just blended in flavour with harmony. So what about the cheese itself? Well Scamorza is traditionally made in Apulia and in some parts of Campania & Molise. The cheese is made from pasteurised cow’s milk or from a mixture of cow and sheep milk. Towards the end of making the cheeses two are hung together in string to ripen for about two weeks. The process of joining & ripening this cheese is called ‘Scamorza’ which in translation meanings ‘beheaded’. After two weeks of ripening, the cheese is sold as it is or smoked and a young & fresh version of Scamorza is also sold within a few days of being made. Because Scamozra is drier than Mozzarella it isn’t as moist but has a firmer & denser texture. It still retains the milky and creamy taste that Mozzarella is known for but because it is smoked it has a subtle, smoky flavour but with a caramel note on the finish. To enjoy with a wine it is best paired with oak-aged Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio or Orvieto. It does have good qualities for baking dishes or to be fried like this easy appetizer recipe below from RealItalianKitchen on Youtube.
As you can see it is more versatility than a standard Mozzarella but I think the antipasto is the way to go because what more is there to food life than just digging into a selection of good foods on a board.
There we have it Scamorza from Italy and I will certainly be buying more of this cheese in the future for my Italian dishes & pizzas because I prefer the smoked flavour of this over Mozzarella. Head out to you local tesco or cheese purveyor to sample the Italian delights of Scamorza.
Cheesy1
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