What is Italian cuisine primarily famous for? Of course, cheeses and dishes, the basis or important component of which is cheese. Pizza, pasta, ravioli, risotto, minestrone, caprese and many, many other dishes - all of them, even if they do not contain cheese, are most often served with it. Because, to paraphrase the famous Russian proverb, every Italian or Italian cuisine fan will tell you that you can’t spoil the dish with cheese.
The famous cheeses of Italy
And all the names can not be listed - in Italy produce at least four hundred types of product.
Perhaps the most famous cheeses that are difficult to replace with anything are mozzarella and parmesan. They quietly became frequent guests and even regulars of our menu, having entered into the composition of already familiar dishes.
Parmesan is the most popular due to its versatility. Its excellent taste and texture make it truly indispensable both as an independent dish and as a decoration. That is why it is made by many manufacturers, it is more affordable than mozzarella.
And what can replace mozzarella if it is not always possible to meet it in a store near a house?
About mozzarella
Mozzarella is not only one of the most famous varieties of Italian cheese, but also one of the oldest. The cheese, which was called "Mozza" (Mozza), was made in the XII century.
The main features of mozzarella are the consistency, taste and shape of a small ball.
Structure
To find out what kind of cheese you can replace mozzarella, you need to figure out what its composition is. Cheese with a similar composition, appearance and taste will become its analogue in some dishes.
Initially, mozzarella (like the aforementioned mozza) was made from milk of a freely grazing buffalo. And not simple, namely black. Over the years, the recipe has been discontinued, and cheese made in this way has become a rarity. More accessible and popular types of mozzarella are made from a mixture of cow’s milk and buffalo or from cow’s milk.
The classic buffalo milk mozzarella is rich in proteins and calcium, contains a huge amount of vitamins, amino acids and minerals. Due to the very low salt content (less than 1 g per 100 g of product), the taste is lean, sweetish.
Appearance
Mozzarella is a small size, about 200 g, a bowl or several small balls that are stored in cheese brine. Otherwise, the shelf life is reduced to one to two days.
The color of the cheese is pure white, not transparent. Consistency - elastic, not dense, watery, slightly creamy, with noticeable layers. When cutting a cheese bowl, you can see the allocated milk fluid. The top layer, like a thin skin, is slightly denser.
What cheese to replace mozzarella?
Now, having sorted out the qualities that are characteristic of this cheese, you can pick up similar varieties.
- Of the Russian, Adyghe is very similar in taste. It also contains little salt, yes, and it looks very similar to mozzarella.
- Another popular cheese is brynza. It is slightly more brackish than mozzarella, but you can get rid of excess salt by pre-soaking the feta cheese in milk. After that, it will acquire a milder taste.
- What else can replace mozzarella? Perhaps the most suitable variety is Georgian suluguni cheese. It is also made from buffalo milk, which is often replaced with goat milk.
Do-it-yourself mozzarella
In search of an answer to the question of how to replace mozzarella, there is another answer - to cook it yourself. What is needed for this? Of course, buffalo milk is more difficult to find than mozzarella, so consider a recipe using the available ingredients:
- Cow's milk, oily and as fresh as possible - 1 liter.
- Ready kefir - a glass.
- Salt is a tablespoon.
- Vinegar 25% - tablespoon
- Heat the milk (do not boil!), Turn off the heat.
- Add salt and kefir to milk, mix. Add vinegar, cover, leave to infuse for half an hour
- After this time, the serum should separate from the curd that has settled to the bottom. If it happens that this does not happen, then you need to heat the milk mass until the whey separates.
- Put the colander in the pan and cover it with gauze. We spread the future cheese there to make glass serum. She is still useful to us.
- Squeeze out the thickened milk mass, make sure that the liquid has separated completely, wrap the cottage cheese in gauze, leave it in a colander and put it in the refrigerator until morning.
- In the morning, get the mozzarella, transfer it to a bowl, fill with serum and put it in the refrigerator for another day. The cheese is ready.
That's all. Now you know how to replace mozzarella and how to cook this cheese if you do not want to replace it with anything.