This past weekend we went to a Mozzarella Farm, this memory will be forever engrained in my head. In my life I have been on a farm before, but this was such a different experience because my class saw the process of fresh mozzarella being made. We traveled for four hours into the countryside of Italy, and paid 25 euro for this experience, so I felt that this was a necessary experience to share.
After long traveling on the dirt roads in the Italian countryside, we arrived finally at the Masseria Cardilli Family farm, which is well-known for their fresh mozzarella. My class got off the bus, and around us were just fields filled with natural, beautiful Italian scenery. The farm has been renovated in order to make some extra money from tourists, who would like to stay a night or two on the farm in the countryside, and continually eat in their amazing restaurant. There was a swimming pool, playground, and a five star restaurant all placed conveniently on this farm. I would want to go back to spend a weekend on this farm, but there was one problem… the smell of buffalo, and it was everywhere on this farm.
In the beginning of our tour, we went into a very moist room where there were solely tubs of salt water, and there were puddles all along the floor with pieces of cheese and water. It sounds disgusting, and trust me, it was gross. The guide explained that this was the room in which the cheese was boiled, fermated (I think), then salted because mozzarella does not taste like anything until the salt is added to it. One of the workers showed us how the cheese was cut into pounds, half pounds, ect then shaped. He just finished a bag of mozzarella, so we were lucky enough to have fresh samples, literally the freshest because it was made in less than an hour prior to us eating it. After tasting that, I will never eat mozzarella again, because nothing can be as good as that was. We then went back in time of the mozzarella making process and saw where they kept the buffalos and what the milking process was like. As we went down the path, we went backwards in which we saw the oldest buffalos first, and went all the way down to the newborns. We had the chance to feed them hay and pet them. I have never been so close to a buffalo before, I do not know why but I thought they were prettier. I had a very rude awakening because they spit, and are not gorgeous creatures.
After thoroughly washing our hands, my class and I sat down to a five course meal at the farm’s restaurant. We ate everything from twelve different types of cheese, sausage, omelets, chicken, rabbit, roasted vegetables, spaghetti, and finally ended with dessert. The food was delicious, and after everyone was stuffed, so our professor advised us to go wander the farm before getting back on the bus. A group of girls and I found a soccer ball and ran around in one field playing, and then played on the playground like five year olds.
It would a wonderful experience to see how mozzarella was made, every time I eat it, I will now know what hard labor goes into making it. I love that I am just living like the Romans and enjoying their food during my time here abroad.
