L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano I am writing this close to midday, and I am telling you: the idea o f h a v i n g a n i c e t o m a t o s a l a d w i t h a b u r r a t a o n t h e s i d e , dressed with just a hint of o r e g a n o a n d e x t r a v i r g i n olive oil on top is driving me nuts. Thinking about it, a g o o d , f r e s h f i o r d i l a t t e , or mozzarella would do just fine, too. B u r r a t a , m o z z a r e l l a , fiordilatte: iconic products of Italy's dairy industry, but w h a t ' s t h e d i f f e r e n c e between them? Well, let's start from what's probably making you wonder whether I lost it or not: the difference between mozzarella and fi ordilatte. Mozzarella, as many of you know, is a traditional Italian fresh cheese, made u s i n g t h e p a s t a f i l a t a m e t h o d . I t s n a m e c o m e s f r o m t h e d i a l e c t a l v e r b m o z z a , c u t , o r m o z - zare, to cut off, which is the gesture made by the well- t r a i n e d h a n d s t h a t m a k e these delicious balls of fresh, creamy cheese. In the cur- rent language, we use the word "mozzarella" for every type of cheese made with f r e s h m i l k , f o l l o w i n g t h e p a s t a f i l a t a p r o c e d u r e , r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e t y p e o f milk used. But, in fact, the o n l y m o z z a r e l l a , t h e o n e that truly owns the name, is t h a t m a d e w i t h l a t t e d i bufala. Since 1996, there has been a legal difference between mozzarella (made w i t h b u f f a l o m i l k ) and fiordilatte, (flower of milk, literally, or the best p a r t o f t h e m i l k ) , m a d e exclusively with cow milk. But, in the same year, moz- zarella di bufala Campana became a DOP product (a product with protected ori- gin denomination), which m e a n s t h a t o n l y c h e e s e m a d e w i t h m i l k f r o m Mediterranean buffalos can be called so. So, while moz- zarella remains, in common lingo, a term for both moz- zarella di bufala and fiordi- l a t t e , o f f i c i a l l y , i t s h o u l d o n l y b e u s e d f o r c h e e s e made with buffalo milk. D o n ' t w o r r y t o o m u c h t h o u g h , n o o n e w i l l g e t offended if you ask for moz- z a r e l l a w h e n y o u w a n t fiordilatte! In fact, most of us just specify "di bufala" when they want the "real" mozzarella, to mark the dif- ference. Mozzarella and fiordilatte a r e m a d e w i t h d i f f e r e n t milk, but using, as we said, the same method, that of p a s t a f i l a t a . A n d w h a t about burrata? Its name recalls quite clearly the most decadent of dairy products, b u t t e r , w h i c h w e call burro in Italian, but it doesn't really have anything to do with it. Burrata has some things in common with its cousins, mozzarella and fiordilatte because it, too, is made with the pasta filata method, but not entirely. Burrata, which i s a t y p i c a l p r o d u c t o f P u g l i a , h a s a n o u t e r p a r t made entirely of pasta filata, that works like a container, so to speak, for a creamy interior, made with a mix of p u l l e d p a s t a f i l a t a a n d cream. This is commonly called stracciatella. Burrata can also be made with buffa- l o m i l k , i n c a s e y o u w e r e wondering. In 2016, burra- ta di Andria (Andria is a town in the Murgia area of P u g l i a ) o b t a i n e d a n I G P denomination (or PGI, pro- tected geographical indica- tion). Stracciatella deserves some attention, too. It is, as you can imagine, very fresh and creamy, and should be e a t e n s t r a i g h t a w a y a f t e r buying it. It has a distinct milky taste, because of the mix between pasta filata (so, fiordilatte), and fresh cream. While in the past stracciatel- la was usually only an ingre- dient of burrata, today is more and more common to find it to buy on its own but, as we said, make sure you eat it within 24 hours if you want to enjoy it at its best. While we are all well used to mozzarella and fiordilat- te, you may not be as famil- iar with burrata. The best w a y t o h a v e i t i s d r e s s e d w i t h a b i t o f e x t r a v i r g i n olive oil, salt, and pepper, just as a said at the begin- ning: delicious. I n I t a l y , i t h a s a l s o become a popular pizza top- ping, often paired with cher- ry tomatoes, prosciutto, and arugula: not a light choice, perhaps, but oh-so-good! T o d a y ' s w o r d , invece (een-vai- t c h a i ) i s t h e u n i o n o f t w o t e r m s , i n a n d vece and we started using it sometimes in the 18th cen- tury as a single word, but its u s e w a s c o m m o n b e f o r e , b u t a s a l o c u t i o n , w i t h e x a m p l e s f o u n d e v e n i n Dante's work. In English, we can translate it with a v a r i e t y o f t e r m s o r l o c u - tions, including instead, on the contrary, conversely, a n d e v e n o n t h e o t h e r hand. Invece is very common and you can find it in a vari- ety of contexts and in all registers. It is almost always f o l l o w e d b y t h e p r e p o s i - tion di, just like instead is followed by "of:" dovresti s t u d i a r e , i n v e c e d i g u a r d a r e l a T V ( " y o u s h o u l d s t u d y , i n s t e a d o f watching TV"). S o m e t i m e s , y o u c a n use invece to show you need or want to do the opposite of what others are doing, as in tutti hanno scelto di sup- p o r t a r e l a s u a i d e a . I o , invece, l'ho rifiutata cate- g o r i c a m e n t e ( " E v e r y o n e decided to support his idea. I, on the contrary, categori- cally refused"). You can also translate it as on the other h a n d : h a i s c e l t o i l m a g l i o n e b l u m e n t r e i o , invece, ho preferito quello rosso ("You picked the blue j u m p e r , w h i l e I , o n t h e other hand, have chosen the red one"). W h i c h e v e r n u a n c e y o u g i v e t o y o u r i n v e c e , a n d whichever translation you prefer, rest assured: there is a l w a y s a c h o i c e i n v o l v e d with it! - I n v e c e d i m a n d a r e m e s s a g g i , p e r c h é n o n mandi un vocale? - Why don't you send a voice message instead of a text? - Io ho fatto il Liceo Clas- sico, invece lui lo Scientifi- co. - I attended Liceo Classi- co, he, on the other hand, attended Liceo Scientifico - Hai voluto fare di testa tua, invece di ascoltare chi ne sa più di te - You did as you wanted, instead of listening to who knew better. LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Word of the day: invece, the word of choices Italian curiosities: what's the difference between burrata and mozzarella? Fresh mozzarella is delicious just as it is (Photo: Manuela Szymaniak/Dreamstime) © Fizkes | Dreamstime.com

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