The white stuff
Until very recently the mozzarella served in even the poshest restaurants was reminiscent of bits of sliced yoga mat – rubber that’s marginally softer than bicycle tyres but still not up there among the ‘things I want to eat before I die’.
Now it doesn’t matter quite as much when this sort of mozzarella is piled onto a pizza with enough garlic, chilli and anchovy to give it personality – but uncooked it’s a shocker.
Why on earth would we subject our metabolism, or our palates, to stuff this indigestible and entirely devoid of personality or flavour? The answer is simple. It was the only kind of mozzarella being produced locally and, probably more to the point, many of us actually didn’t know any better.
Then, a couple of years ago, the folk at Zandam (tel 021 976 785) began selling a full-cream cow’s-milk mozzarella, closer to the Italian stuff than I’d ever encountered and much more affordable. Suddenly I had an inkling of what I could hope to find in the real thing – soft, with a slightly sour, milky flavour – I took to it with wild abandon.
Then, God bless him, that lovely man, Wayne Rademeyer, decided to give up law, move to Wellington and embark on producing authentic Italian-style mozzarella using fresh buffalo milk. Yip, real buffaloes, brought in from Australia of all places.
The result? A soft, milky cloud of heavenliness – sweet, sour, creamy, meltin- the-mouth stuff that makes your heart sing even as you feel your hips expanding with every nibble.
Suddenly there was a whole new dimension to this previously disadvantaged cheese.
Caprese made with gently ripped nuggets of buffalo bliss became a salad of heroic status for which only the ripest, juiciest tomatoes, the most aromatic basil and the finest olive oil would do. Sublime when served with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Chicken breasts moved up the menu and were gently pried open and filled with capers, mozzarella, parsley and lemon peel – so delicate and delicious a dish that chickens countrywide, had they known their culinary fate, would gladly have offered up their plump bosoms for such an honour. Overnight toasted cheese went gourmet, margherita pizzas were reclassified posh and this hitherto unremarkable cheese moved up in the world.
Which all goes to show that whether chicken or chef, your life may be unutterably changed should you choose the white stuff...
MOZZARELLA AND CAPER STUFFED CHICKEN
SERVES 4
Finely chopped olives, anchovies or fresh basil added to this mix would not go amiss!
4 free-range chicken breasts, bone-in
1 ball fresh buffalo-milk mozzarella torn into small pieces
1 T (15ml) capers, roughly chopped
zest of 1 large lemon
juice of ½ lemon, about 2 T
2 T (30 ml) Italian parsley, finely chopped
salt and milled pepper
1. Make three shallow slashes diagonally across each breast.
2. Mix remaining ingredients together and push into each slit.
3. Brush chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
4. Bake in a preheated 200°C oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until cooked through but still moist.
Serve with a tray of oven-roasted baby potatoes, tomatoes and Kalamata olives and a green salad.
MOZZARELLA AND ANCHOVY TOASTIES
Make a ciabatta sandwich using sliced buffalo-milk mozzarella, best-quality anchovies, sliced ripe tomato, basil leaves, milled pepper and sea salt flakes. Brush bread on both sides with deliciously fruity olive oil and toast in a pan or in a jaffle iron.
