Hi, here Claudia. Today I am in the city of Battipaglia in the region Campaign in southern Italy, where I will see how the largest mozzarella is made in the world. In this dairy is made of mozzarella weighing 20-30 kg. It is much larger than ordinary.
I come from southern Italy, so my favorite food is definitely mozzarella. Forget about pasta, pizza and all those things that are sold worldwide as typical Italian food. Mozzarella is a real treat. So I am really curious how these huge balls are created. Let's go to check it.
Where are the beginnings of mozzarella?
Some say that the campaign region is the birthplace of mozzarella. The name comes even from the word used in the local dialect “mozzare”, which means manual cutting. Mozzarella from this Italian region is made of buffalo milk, and this dairy produces it in various shapes and sizes. Zizzon is the most famous mozzarella dairy.
– Zizzon from Battipaglia is a very large mozzarella fully made of buffalo milk. It can weigh from 1 kg to 40 kg, and its special feature is that on top there is a “nipple”, which resembles the one on the mother's breast because milk comes out of it. The name Zizzon comes from the word in our local dialect, which means “mother's breast,” says Gennaro Paraggio, production manager at Caseficio la Fattoria.
The Caseficio La Fattoria dairy was founded in 1988 by the Paraggio family to honor the multi -generational tradition initiated in 1930. In total, the dairy produces over nine tons of mozzarella a day, of which four tons are Zizzona.
– Zizzona is made so that the dough inside is solid and strong. It must also have a structure resembling a cobweb to be able to keep the milk inside. It's about the same milk that is used during production. Thanks to this, after cutting, the plate is filled with milk, and when eating the lips are also filled with fresh milk, “explains Gennaro.
The largest mozzarella in the world is created in this dairy
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How is the largest mozzarella in the world created?
Time for the main attraction! We'll see how the 30-kilo Zizzon is created! The production of mozzarella in the dairy begins early, because around three in the morning, when milk arrives from the farm.
The whey is drained from milk to get a cottage cheese, which in Italian is called Cagliata. The cottage cheese is cut into smaller pieces and placed in a machine that cooks it at a temperature of about 96 degrees C. This stretch dough is now ready for transformation into mozzarella. Here is a fresh mozzarella that has just left the machine.
I'll take a bite. It is very good. She hasn't been salted yet and is very warm. So it doesn't taste like you would expect. It is very warm because it is fresh. It's very good. As you can see, the dough is also made in several smaller formats, but … we are not interested in them. Yes, that's what we're here. After a great mozzarella.
When the cottage cheese is ready, two employees knead him and moves it to the pool with salt water. Due to its giant size, Zizzon must “take a bath” in the pool to make sure that cottage cheese will hold. When she is ready to raise, it looks like this. Please, here is 30 kg.
Dairy employees do not keep the “birthday” of the giant Zizzona secret. They pose with her for photos. I couldn't resist it either …
– Zizzones are made differently than mozzarelle, because the dough must be formed so that it releases milk, and at the same time must have a thicker structurebecause it is much heavier. If the structure is not well made, after putting on Zizzon's plate, collapsing and loses its shape. The larger the size of Zizzona, the more you have to have skills – admits Gennaro.
You don't have to worry about wasting food. These giant mozzarelle are made to order only for large events, dinners or eventson which everyone feels hunger for cheese. Perhaps you also noticed that employees do not wear gloves. This is the reason
The hands of all our employees are disinfected with certified and edible means. We don't use gloves because it is a completely craft work. The cheese -making master is similar to a carpenter, sculptor or painter. In gloves, we would lose our hand sensitivity, which allows us to shape the mozzarella cake in the right way. The dough is cooked at 96 degrees C., so our hands are constantly working at high temperatures, so there is no risk of pollution
– says Gennaro.
In Italy they make a mozzarella giant. This is the tastiest world record
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Where did the popularity of giant mozzarella come from? The key is … “craft advertising”
Giant Zizzona is extremely popular in social media. The dairy is aware of this and in full use. Her Instagram is filled with films depicting fresh mozzarella. The platform is also used to conduct competitions and directly sell products to customers.
– ADVERTISEMENT conducted through social media is more authentic because we are able to do it differently than marketing agencies. We don't plan her before. The advertisement is craft like our product. We enter the dairy and film with phones. We film real employees while working. We take pictures and record what is actually happening. This is very important because tradition is of great importance to us – says the production manager.
It was a beautiful day so far. The sun shines, and there is a giant statue of mozzarella. I saw it alive a 30-kilo mozzarella. It was amazing. I've never seen anything like that in my life. Two people were needed to raise her, and when they cut her, she released so much milk that I had to go back.
What do you think about this 30-kilogram mozzarella? Would you order it for a large dinner or for a birthday? I would definitely prefer her from a birthday cake.
Author: Claudia Romeo, Business Insider producer
