VIDEO: Understanding Mozzarella Varieties

The Daily Meal's video producer, Ali Rosen, ventured to Eataly in New York City to discuss the differences between traditional mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella, and burrata with Gregory Blais, Eataly's chief cheesemonger.

They kick things off with mozzarella di bufala, which is made from the milk of a water buffalo. The difference taste-wise is going to be in the richness of the cheese. "The buffalo is a pretty unique animal in that it's able to take pretty low-grade vegetation and turn it into really rich milk, so it's got a higher yield — there's a large amount of kilograms of milk necessary to make mozzarella from a cow; it's about a third less out of the milk of a buffalo," says Blais.

When it comes to burrata, undoubtedly the trendiest cheese of the mozzarella world, this variety is a specialty of Puglia in southern Italy and it's made in a similar fashion to the buffalo mozzarella. The difference with burrata is that the curds are cut before the cheese is prepared — the curds are formed into a beggar's purse shape and then filled with heavy cream and more shredded curds and tied off at the top. "It's like a little bag of cream with a candy center inside filled with rich, milky goodness," says Blais.

Check out the video to find out much more about mozzarella, including the best types to use for certain dishes.