Buffalo milk cheese is made from buffalo milk and is usually creamy and fresh. The milk comes specifically from the water buffalo, an animal native to Southeast Asia.
Interestingly, making buffalo milk cheese normally requires less milk than making cow’s milk cheese. While one kilogram of cow’s milk cheese requires around eight kilograms of cow’s milk, buffalo cheese requires approximately five.
Why? Buffalo milk is denser and has more solids than cow’s milk. That is not the only difference: buffalo milk is also whiter and slightly sweeter.
Where does buffalo milk cheese come from?
Buffalo were introduced to Italy around the seventh century. Strong and capable animals, they were domesticated and used to plough marshy land. Around the twelfth century, buffalo milk began to be used for cheese. This gave rise to well-known Italian cheeses such as mozzarella, which became popular worldwide.
As buffalo are native to Asia, they were also domesticated and used to make different cheeses in countries such as India, Bangladesh, the Philippines and China.
Why is this cheese so famous?
Most buffalo milk cheeses are known only to specialists and cheese lovers. Others, however, enjoy international fame, such as mozzarella and ricotta.
To try it, buy this delicious buffalo milk cheese in our online shop.
Several factors have brought buffalo milk cheeses worldwide recognition. First, buffalo milk is scarcer than cow’s milk, so it cannot meet the world’s entire demand for cheese, and the cheeses tend to cost more. Second, cheeses such as buffalo mozzarella from Campania have Protected Designation of Origin status, which supports their original producers.
What are the properties of buffalo milk cheese?
Buffalo milk contains more fat than cow’s milk and is richer in protein, calcium and magnesium. It contains less cholesterol and less sodium, potassium and chlorine. The higher fat level means buffalo cheese provides more calories than cow’s milk cheese, with almost twice the energy. This product is also usually easy to digest.
How many types of buffalo milk cheese are there?
Although mozzarella is the best known, many cheeses are made from buffalo milk.
- Accasciato: A mild, creamy cheese with a sweet aroma and firm texture, made in Campania, Italy, from fresh cow’s milk and buffalo milk.
- Barilotto: This Italian cheese has a strong flavour and firm texture. It is made by heating the buffalo milk whey left from mozzarella production.
- Blu di Bufala: An Italian blue-veined cheese made from pasteurised buffalo milk. Its texture ranges from creamy to crumbly, with a slightly tangy aroma and an intense, sweet flavour.
- Bocconcini: Small, mild, unripened, semi-soft white cheeses without a rind. They are generally made from a mixture of water buffalo milk and cow’s milk and kept in whey or water.
- Bufarolo: A fresh Italian cheese made from pasteurised buffalo milk, perfect for salads or with fresh or dried fruit.
- Bufalino: A soft, creamy Italian cheese made by combining ricotta, caciobufala and salt.
- Buff Blue: Made from buffalo milk by a cheese dairy in southern California, with distinctive blue veins.
- Burrata: An increasingly well-known fresh Italian cheese. Its outside is made from stretched-curd buffalo cheese or cow’s milk mozzarella, with a soft filling of curd and fresh cream.
- Cacio Bufala: An Italian cheese made from buffalo milk, calf rennet and salt, matured for approximately a year. Its flavour is very pleasant and creamy.
- Caciotta: A range of rustic Italian cheeses that can be made from different milks, including buffalo milk, with a mild flavour.
- Caciovallo di Bufala: A mature, stretched-curd Italian cheese from Bergamo, made from pasteurised buffalo milk. Its sweet, delicate flavour becomes more intense over time.
- Caprese di Bufala: A mild buffalo milk cheese treated with olive oil and oregano, giving it a fresh, delicate flavour and an aromatic finish.
- Casatica: A semi-soft Italian cheese made from pasteurised buffalo milk, with a distinctive rind and a delicate, creamy flavour.
- Chhena: A fresh curd cheese eaten in India and Bangladesh. Moist and crumbly, it is used for desserts.
- Kesong Puti: A fresh, mild, slightly salty Filipino cheese made from buffalo milk, salt and rennet.
- Khoa: An Indian cheese similar to ricotta, made from whole milk that is dehydrated or thickened by simmering in an open iron pan.
- Mozzarella di Bufala Campana: An Italian sliceable curd cheese made from water buffalo milk in countries such as Italy and Bulgaria. It is eaten fresh, sometimes just hours after production.
- Nguri: A Chinese buffalo milk cheese with a soft, leathery texture. It is made by mixing milk with vinegar and marinating it in brine.
- Ricotta di Bufala Campana: A fresh cheese made from the whey remaining after mozzarella di bufala production.
