The history of Mozzarella, and specifically, mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella) is linked to that of the water buffalo. Nobody really knows exactly when the first water buffaloes came to Italy, but one account claims that it was in the year 596 AD when they were brought across the Mediterranean.
This oft-copied but never duplicated gem is a fresh, drawn-curd cheese made from whole buffalo’s milk. Most people don’t know what water buffalo milk tastes like, but upon one’s first bite it is unmistakable that this legendary cheese is made from an unfamiliar milk. It is porcelain-white in color, spherical in shape with a very thin glossy edible rind.