Cheese Database

Mozzarella vs Stracciatella

Mozzarella, field guide plate
Mozzarella, photographed

Mozzarella

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Fresh
Type
Stretched curd
Rind
No rind
Country
Italy
Place
Southern Italy

Mozzarella is a stretched-curd cheese. The cow's-milk cheese is fior di latte. Mozzarella di Bufala Campana is a separate cheese, made from water buffalo milk, when it carries that protected name.

Stracciatella, field guide plate
Stracciatella, photographed

Stracciatella

Facts

Texture
Fresh
Type
Stretched curd
Rind
No rind
Country
Italy
Place
Apulia

Stracciatella is a fresh cheese from Apulia, in southern Italy, and the name means little shreds. Makers pull stretched curd into fine ragged pieces and mix those pieces with cream. The result is white, soft, and spoonable, with no rind and no aging. It is the loose filling that sits inside a burrata, and it is also sold on its own in a tub. Either way, it is meant to be eaten while it is still fresh and mild.