The lovely buffalo milk

Nature helps, but sometimes you need to give it a little push too. Mozzarella (di bufala campana, one should always add) is an Italian food excellence that until only a few years ago was confined to a basic consumption; that is to say it was mostly sliced and paired with tomatoes, basil and a drop of extra virgin olive oil. If today the perception of its potential appears to have grown, and even fine dining has rolled out the red carpet for it, much is thanks to Le Strade della Mozzarella, the festival whose eighth edition is scheduled this coming Monday and Tuesday, in Paestum, as usual.

This is no small change, but the result of years of work; the turning point was in 2012. Mauro Uliassi was one of the guests and presented Cremoso di mozzarella. For the first time, a chef prepared not an extemporaneous dish, but a composition that was strongly desired, pondered, destined to become part of the menu in his restaurant in Senigallia and then stay there for a long time.

Albert Sapere and Barbara Guerra, the couple (they’re life partners) who created and still curate Le Strade, perceived right away that the perspective had changed, which was confirmed the following year. «Pino Cuttaia presented his Nuvola di caprese – they recall - In one second only, when tasting it, all the previous editions, all the efforts passed in front of our eyes. We had reached an important objective: the spirit of the event was established».

A milestone - though temporary: new challenges were to appear – that was reached hardly by chance. It was in 2005 that Sapere and Guerra thought up Le Strade: «We have 12 dairy factories and 36 thousand female buffaloes, versus 23 thousand people. However, there were only very simple festivals celebrating this, nothing that could have people talk and mobilize chefs too…». The latter soon joined: Gualtiero Marchesi first arrived in 2008, Massimo Bottura and Carlo Cracco in 2009… The journey was traced, it was to see Le Strade grow in parallel with all the world connected with the Consorzio Mozzarella di bufala campana, which today counts 120 businesses and with a turnover of about 50 million euros it is the largest food consortium in Central-Southern Italy.

What will the new frontier be? Spreading all over the world the image of buffalo milk mozzarella as a versatile ingredient, capable of making a good impression in every moment, from starter to dessert: «In Italy this is now the case, it’s much different elsewhere. This is why last year we began to invite foreign chefs», Barbara Guerra explains. They will also be present in the next edition, great names such as Paco Morales, Kobe Desramaults, Bo Beck, Sang Hoon Degeimbre, Jacques Genin.

How about the rest of the programme? The princes of Italian cuisine. Two previews. First, the return of Pino Cuttaia, with a fake egg no longer made with squid but through destructuration: ricotta, vegetables and bottarga. And then there’s Bottura’s idea, still top secret. He asked: «What is mozzarella’s dream?». Sapere’s answer: «The dream not of mozzarella but of its producers is to have only female buffaloes, who would produce lots of milk». Here’s the dish from the chef from Modena: The male buffalo who wants to become a female buffalo.