🧶 Pasta filata cheeses

Pasta filata cheeses (Italian for “stretched paste”) are cheeses whose curd, once acidified, is heated in hot water, kneaded and stretched until the mass turns smooth, springy and fibrous. This is how mozzarella, burrata, provolone, caciocavallo, scamorza, sulguni, queso Oaxaca, chechil and kashkaval are made. ¹

How they are made. The Codex standard CXS 262-2006 describes pasta filata as heating curd of a suitable pH value, kneading and stretching until it is smooth and free from lumps; while still warm it is cut and moulded, then firmed by cooling. Acidity is the key: an unripe curd will not stretch. For Caciocavallo Silano the specification allows on average 4–10 hours for the curd to ripen, and Provolone del Monaco is moulded with water at 85–95 °C. The cheese is then cooled in water and salted in brine. ¹⁵⁷

Why the cheese stretches. During stretching, the curd's protein structure goes from disordered to ordered, with the proteins lining up in parallel fibres. This depends on the acidity and the amount of calcium in the curd, and pH is controlled with starter cultures or organic acids added to the milk ¹³. In traditional kashkaval from North Macedonia, the curd is stretched at pH 5.2–5.4. The heating and stretching step, shared by soft, semi-hard and hard varieties, is what gives the smooth, fibrous, sliceable texture ¹⁴.

Fresh and aged. Mozzarella, burrata and stracciatella are fresh: Burrata di Andria is a pasta filata casing filled with cream and shreds of the same paste, kept at 4 ± 2 °C. Other cheeses are hung on cords and aged: Caciocavallo Silano for at least 30 days, Provolone Valpadana from 10 days, with tangy cheeses over 15 kg at least 90, and Provolone del Monaco for at least 180 days. The longer the ageing, the firmer and sharper the cheese. ⁵⁶⁷⁸

Not only Italy. These cheeses have a long tradition in the eastern Mediterranean and neighbouring countries, and in some of them they are the second most popular group after white brined cheeses. The best known there are kashkaval types, made for centuries ¹⁴.

EU-protected names. In Italy they are Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, Mozzarella di Gioia del Colle (registered in 2020), Caciocavallo Silano, Provolone Valpadana, Provolone del Monaco and Burrata di Andria (PGI). In Greece they are Kasseri from sheep's milk and smoked Metsovone from cow's milk, both PDO since 1996. Codex distinguishes high-moisture mozzarella, soft and layered, from low-moisture mozzarella, which is firm and can be shredded. ^13567891011

Why it matters to you. For pizza and baking, choose low-moisture mozzarella; serve fresh mozzarella and burrata at room temperature on the day you buy them. Aged provolone and caciocavallo are sliced for a cheese board or baked. The NHS lists pasteurised mozzarella among cheeses that are safe to eat in pregnancy. ¹¹²