My new discovery at the Islington Farmers’ Market this past Sunday was organic British mozzarella di bufala from Higher Alham Farm, Shepton Mallet, Somerset. The suggestion of buffalo mozzarella from Cheddar cheese country appealed to me. Hadn’t Chris Arnot written good things about Higher Alham in the Independent? I decided to try the UK mozza atop my weekly homemade Margherita pizza and enhance my organic/local sourcing credentials. My iPhone calculated a distance of 202km between Islington and Shepton Mallet, whereas the route from Islington to Caserta, Italy covered 2,017 km. My net savings: 1,128 food miles.
I laid thin slices of the mozza over hand-crushed plum tomatoes, slid the pizza over the pizza stone in the 230C (445F) oven and waited for the cheese to run together and form a molten mass. The crust slowly browned, the tomatoes steamed, but the mozza refused to soften, melt and ooze. If anything the cheese slices toughened, an observation confirmed by the difficulty I had using my pizza cutter on them. The unyielding mozzarella di bufalo inglese cut like rubber and chewed like it, too.
Thanks Daniel, it’s good to know that it’s not worth splurging on UK buff mozza for home pizza.
I’ve recently rediscovered Story Delhi, Dray Walk (Brick Lane) and can’t stay away. Their micro-thin organic pizza are veritable cornucopias of flavour!
Thanks for the tip, Ed. We will try Story Delhi asap.
Don’t these guys supply Franco Manca though, Daniel? They must be doing something right!
Well spotted, Ollie. Yes, you’re right, they do supply Franco Manca, only it’s their cow’s milk mozza (fior di latte) and not their buffalo mozza. Regardless, my conclusion was probably a bit harsh and hasty. Laverstock Park Farm is proving there is a bright future from British mozzarella di bufala.
When I have very good quality DOP Mozza I actually prefer to eat it raw with some olive oil or as part of a tomato centric salad. I also think with a top 36 or 48 month Parmigiano Reggiano it is better eaten uncooked i.e. one could say they are both too god to cook !
To this end one could argue that a very good Fior di Latte Mozza may be enough to produce an excellent Pizza – thats probably why Franco Manca manage to produce one of the best in London.
At the same time if like you your pizza is a Margherita where the Mozza is one of the two key toppings( if you can get or afford) a top DOP Mozza it’s absoluteley the way to go !
I own a little organic pizza delivery place in highbury called Organica Pizza Company and we actually buy all our mozza from those guys…I do agree that buffalo mozzarella is not the best but buffalo mozza was never ment to be used as a main cheese topping on the pizza…even if you order the “bufallion” pizza from lets say Ferezza, they will put it on your pizza as extra on top of already cooked pizza. The mozzarella we take from Alham Wood guys is half cow and half buffallo- it melts perfectly and to be honest being a bit of a pizza fanatic I personally think its best tasting mozzarella in the UK, not to mention that its British! It took me a year to source local mozzarella because I would hate to import italian one, and I think I ve tryed everything out there and been to many farms- and this is the best thing we found! And they are not paying me for this:)) Juts ask for half cow half buffallo one next time for pizza making- oh and instead of slicing it, try shredding it!
PS: BTW Franco Manca also uses Alhams farm mozza:)
I have had a similar experience with Alham Wood Buffalo Mozzarella…a friend from Campania confirmed that it wasn’t up to scratch. But these guys also sell raw buffalo milk so I learned how to make mozzarella myself – and after a couple of disasters the results are very good indeed. I am not suggesting to make your own cheese – well, not necessarily – but give British buffaloes a chance. I do think Alham Wood’s raw milk is excellent, I found making cheese “a pasta filata” with their milk much easier than any other I tried.
Some of my attempts are here: http://gardennogarden.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/mozzarella-iii-with-a-vengeance-and-a-recipe/
These are the types of conversations i like to see . And with very helpful replys. I have heard of Franco Mancos but have not had the chance to stop by and taste their product. I have just opened a small neapolitan style pizzeria in which i built my own oven resembling the one that i used when i won my award in lecce in 2008. I can say this though, i use real san marzano tomatoes which cost me £6.89 for a big tin and 2 types of cheese , fior di latte for my classic italian pizzas and 100% DOP mozzarella di bufala which is delivered to me directly from naples. I too were in search of a good mozzarella and spoke to th people at Laverstock Park Farm. The cheese was ok but it was in a texture as we call in napoli > buratto which is like a bit hard on the outside and creamy in the middle, and it was a bit too pricey . There s a company in london which delivers original italian products called carnivale, give them a riing . Well if any of you happen to be driving by Hadleigh, Suffolk , stop by and taste one of the best pizzas in this region. Ask for georgio and mention you read this ad and the pizza is free, ciao tutti . 🙂
My place is called Finezza Neapolitan Pizza