/ Our magazine / Scamorza, the cheese that should always be in your kitchen.
/ Our magazine / Scamorza, the cheese that should always be in your kitchen.
The scamorza is one of the most famous and well-known typical Italian cheeses, both for its particular shape and its unmistakable flavor. It is a pulled-curd cheese made from cow's milk typical of the Southern regions, but it is also successfully produced in Northern Italy.
Its exact origin is unknown, but according to traditional tales, it all started during the preparation of another similar cheese, provola: since one batch went bad, the producer attempted to remedy it by treating it with water at a higher temperature than usual. This is how scamorza was born, today a true excellence of Italian cuisine: an ideal cheese to accompany a large variety of dishes, but also excellent to consume on its own.
There are mainly two types of scamorza: the scamorza fresca, delicate and light, and the scamorza affumicata, whose flavor tends to intensify also thanks to the addition of various aromas. The fresh scamorza is characterized by a thin crust of straw-yellow color, a uniform white paste with few holes, and a typical elastic consistency. It presents the classic layering of pulled-curd cheeses and emits a pleasant aroma of fresh milk and yogurt, with notes of acacia honey.
The smoked scamorza, on the other hand, is brown in color, has a denser paste, and is characterized by a stronger and more decisive flavor. This is due to the aging process, which takes place in the presence of smoke produced from precious spruce or maple woods.
The processing of scamorza is similar to that of other types of pulled-curd cheeses: freshly milked milk is placed in large steel boilers and heated until it reaches a temperature of 35-37 degrees Celsius. During this process, great care must be taken to maintain a regular and slow stirring, to evenly distribute the heat.
Then, lactic ferments and rennet are added: once the curd is formed, it is broken and left to rest. It is then cut into strips and immersed in very hot water to make it stretchy and give it shape. Once formed, it is submerged in brine to salt it: the sweet scamorza is immediately marketed; the smoked scamorza undergoes the smoking process and is allowed to age to give it its distinctive strong flavor.
The shape of scamorza is quite characteristic: it is a sort of pear, wider at the bottom and with a small head at the top that can be more or less pronounced. It is precisely its cut shape at the top that inspired the name of this cheese: scamorza comes from the verb “scamozzare”, which literally means “to remove a part”.
A string is passed under the cut head, allowing the cheeses to be hung in pairs and drained. However, in smoked scamorza, the so-called “head” is often not present, as during the smoking process, it often happened that the scamorza would stretch, causing the cheese held only by the string under the head to fall to the ground.
Scamorza, like all pulled-curd cheeses, has a high nutritional value, thanks to the large amount of milk used to produce it. For 100 grams of product, scamorza has about 335 kilocalories, making it a good source of energy for our body.
It also contains a good amount of proteins (25 grams per 100 g of product) and mineral salts: scamorza is indeed rich in calcium and phosphorus, with 100 grams providing about half of the daily requirement for a healthy adult.
To properly store scamorza, it is first important to distinguish between fresh and aged: sweet scamorza has a lighter, almost milky color, and should be stored in the refrigerator for only a few days, protected from contact with air; aged scamorza, on the other hand, has a darker color and a longer shelf life.
Naturally, this last one must also be protected, because even if it doesn't go rancid, air dries it significantly and causes it to lose its characteristic organoleptic properties. Both do not require special attention before being opened, but once cut in half, they should be protected with plastic wrap or a clean cloth.
There are multiple uses for scamorza in the kitchen: it is indeed a cheese that pairs excellently with many dishes, capable of beautifully enhancing your recipes. The sweet scamorza is great for enriching salads, or in skewers, for its ability to “stretch”. It is also ideal for dishes that involve baking with a light golden crust, such as eggplants or stuffed peppers, or for a baked pasta with zucchini. Cut into chunks and added on pizza, it always provides great satisfaction.
The smoked scamorza, on the other hand, pairs perfectly with radicchio: radicchio and scamorza risotto is a dish symbolic of good autumnal Italian cuisine, a perfect mix of aromas and flavors thanks to two ingredients that blend and marry perfectly.
To accompany sweet scamorza, soft white wines are ideal, especially from the south such as Fiano and Greco. For smoked scamorza, we recommend a Lagrein type wine or slightly aromatic white wines. It also pairs excellently with Prosecco di Valdobbiadene DOCG.
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