A daughter of Campania, in the southwest of Italy, mozzarella di latte di bufala requires real know-how and extra-fresh buffalo milk. In Aude, a young couple of transalpine origin has started breeding buffalo and handcrafts these irresistible balls of milky freshness. A visit was necessary.
Just half an hour from Carcassonne, at the foot of the Alaric mountain and in the middle of a quiet Corbières valley, the town of Pradelles-en-Val is home to a strange ranch. Instead of the horses and cattle that we would expect to see in this Occitan wild-west landscape, it is the dark silhouettes of a herd of buffalo that we can see through a cold morning mist. The meeting is surprising if we ignore that Edoardo and Alexandra Antonini, a young sunny couple straight from Rome, settled in the valley seven years ago to operate a buffalo farm. In Italy, with the protein-rich milk of these rustic animals, the famous mozzarella di latte is made. The duo decided to do the same… in Occitanie! “Our initial idea was to open what in Italy we call an agriturismo (a farm where travelers can stay and learn more about the profession and know-how of small producers, editor's note). It was a family project, with my parents and my brothers and sisters. We were looking for an estate in France or southern Italy. And then, upon discovering this wild corner of the Corbières, my father fell in love with it. Although none of us spoke French and despite the climate which is not really Mediterranean in winter! » laughs Edoardo, blowing on his hands to warm them.
Contrary to what we imagine, the best season to taste mozzarella is winter.
Italy in Cathar country
French administrative subtleties did not allow the hotel industry and agricultural production to be mixed, as in Italy. In the beautiful building of a former wine estate in the village of Pradelles-en-Val, the family opened an Italian restaurant, Bourdasso, which quickly won over all the gourmets in the region. Edoardo decides to start breeding buffaloes and produce his own mozzarelle di bufala with raw milk. A slightly crazy adventure when you know that most of the production of Italian mozzarella is done with pasteurized milk. “Alexandra trained with an expert in Rome, I found animals in France, and we got started. First, we supplied the family restaurant and then, very quickly, a few local star chefs approached us. We started to do some markets, to supply one or two points of sale, such as La Ferme Côté Producteurs, in Narbonne. »
To gain space and efficiency, the couple set up their cheese factory on the other side of the village, in the former ranch-like property of a horse-crazed American. If a hammock is still swinging under the awning, the activity is far from relaxing. Because, every morning, whether it rains, snows or winds, Edoardo, who watches over a rather timid herd of around seventy animals, milks around thirty-five buffaloes outside. And these ladies, with their wild and strong character, are not always willing to let themselves be groped…
“Especially since they make sure to keep something to feed their little ones,” explains Edoardo before specifying that “contrary to what we imagine, the best season to taste mozzarella is winter. . Because to better feed their young, buffaloes produce richer milk in the cold season, which has much more flavor.”
Suffice it to say that the French passion for summer tomato salads with mozzarella really makes the young producer laugh. His brother Giacomo, chef in the kitchen of the family restaurant, more willingly combines the delicate milk ball with a squash cream… Once milking is finished, the addition of rennet (a natural coagulant of animal origin) allows the milk to be transformed. ultra-fresh raw curd. To better understand the know-how required to make mozzarella, Edoardo invites us to enter, with caution and overshoes, into a sort of clinical food module where Alexandra officiates.
Good to know: the cold breaks the fiber and masks the aromas of the mozzarella.
The delicate exercise of spinning
The lab is not big. About ten square meters at most. A small space where Alexandra works alone, to transform the day's milk into creamy balls of milky porcelain. Every day, around 1 p.m., she begins by “breaking” the curds contained in a large vat by hand, before pouring boiling water over them. The curds will melt under the action of the heat and transform into a compact white paste. Then begins the delicate exercise of stretching this dough which we call filatura. In the steam of hot water and using a long wooden spatula, Alexandra stretches the immaculate dough for a long time to give it more suppleness and elasticity. We suffer for her when her hands plunge into the steaming vat in order to grab a certain quantity of dough, which she shapes with a sure and precise gesture into several sliced balls (mozzato in Italian), with expert pressure of the fingers, before letting them float on the surface of a pool of cold brine water. The grueling operation easily lasts an hour. And it is with her cheeks still pink with effort that Alexandra joins her husband, after a thorough cleaning of her micro-lab, to open a few jars where the homemade mozzarella, made from raw and organic milk, rests in a salty liquid essential to their conservation. “The ideal,” she explains, “is to consume them ultra-fresh, on the day of their production. » It is true that the texture, both firm and creamy, as well as the lactic and very aromatic flavors of these precious, immaculate balls are incomparable. Good to know: the cold breaks the fiber and masks the aromas of the mozzarella. If possible, it is therefore preferable to take this spun cheese out of the refrigerator a good half hour before eating it.
A cone of frozen buffalo cream
Not ones to rest on their laurels, Edoardo and Alexandra continue to explore other ways to enjoy buffalo milk. With the whey, they are already making ricotta, testing the maturation of tommes with buffalo milk and, since last summer, they have started making gelati! The acquisition of a professional turbine now allows them to treat passing gourmets with ice creams made from buffalo milk in a stracciatella style, or simply flavored with fig, pistachio or lemon. If you pass through this spectacular little corner of the Corbières this summer, a break at Antonini’s is a must!
Antonini & Co, locality Arjolo, 11220 Val-de-Dagne. 07 88 39 59 27.
Restaurant Bourdasso, 11220 Pradelles-en-Val. 04 68 78 08 31.
bourdasso.com
Funny ranch in Occitania
© Pierre Baëlen
Edoardo and Alexandra Antonini

© Pierre Baëlen
The spinning

© Pierre Baëlen
The delicate step of filatura: stretching the dough to make the mozzarella more supple.
The herd

© Pierre Baëlen
Truffle burrata

© Pierre Baëlen
In season, Alexandra makes truffle burrata…
Mozzarella balls in cold brined water

© Pierre Baëlen
Little mozzarella recipe

© Pierre Baëlen
Fior di latte or di bufala : mozzarella can be made from cow's milk (fior di latte) or buffalo. Since 1996, mozzarella di bufala campana, produced in Campania with whole milk from Italian breed buffaloes, has benefited from a protected designation of origin, DOP.
Enjoy it well : the ideal is to enjoy this white ball as fresh as possible, ideally on the day of its production, without having put it in the refrigerator, because the cold destroys its aromas and its texture. As long as you leave it bathed in its preservation liquid, it will keep for one or two days at room temperature. Then it's better to cook it. Purchased already refrigerated, remember to take it out thirty minutes before eating it.
The buffaloes

© Pierre Baëlen
Why water buffalo in Italy? Legend has it that water buffaloes from India were introduced into Italy, via Sicily, by Saracens, ten centuries ago, before reaching the south of La Botte and Campania. Able to move in humid and hot terrain, they were perfect candidates for working marshy soils.