Scamorza () is a
Southern Italian cow's milk
cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
. It can also be made from other milks, but that is less common. It is a
stretched-curd cheese, in which the fresh curd matures in its own whey for several hours to allow acidity to develop through the conversion of
lactose
Lactose is a disaccharide sugar synthesized by galactose and glucose subunits and has the molecular formula C12H22O11. Lactose makes up around 2–8% of milk (by mass). The name comes from ' (gen. '), the Latin word for milk, plus the suffix '' - ...
to
lactic acid.
Artisanal cheese makers generally form the cheese into a round shape, and then tie a string around the mass one third of the distance from the top, and hang it to dry. The resulting shape is pear-like. This is sometimes referred to as "strangling" the cheese. The cheese is usually white unless
smoked
Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Meat, fish, and ''lapsang souchong'' tea are often smoked.
In Europe, alder is the tradi ...
. When smoked, the color is almond with a lighter interior.
Scamorza can be substituted for
mozzarella in most dishes, but the resulting taste will be much stronger and more dominant. It is reputed to melt better in baking. Using the smoked variety () adds a prominent background flavor in replacement of mozzarella.
Etymology
The term may come from the Italian phrases or , both meaning "severed head". This would also explain the use of in regional Italian to mean "fool" or "idiot".
Production areas
In Italy, scamorza is more commonly made in the south. Strictly speaking, scamorza is a product of
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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and
Calabria
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. However, it is available across the country, both in the unsmoked and smoked forms.
Mario Batali cites grilled scamorza as a traditional dish in
Neapolitan cooking.
[(Batali, M. 2008. Italian grill, p.33.)] Scamorza in
Bari
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...
is made from sheep's milk. This is not necessarily true of cheeses called scamorza outside the
EU.
See also
*
List of cheeses
*
List of smoked foods
This is a list of smoked foods. Smoking is the process of flavoring, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Foods have been smoked by humans throughout history. Meats and fish a ...
*
List of stretch-curd cheeses
References
{{Italian cheeses
Cow's-milk cheeses
Mixed-milk cheeses
Smoked cheeses
Stretched-curd cheeses
Italian cheeses