By Gordon Edgar—
It’s not really mozzarella season; it’s tomato season. The Early Girls are in. The Heirlooms are in. The cherry tomatoes are even at their best. Beecause of that, it’s the time of year where we sell about five times as much fresh cheese as we do the rest of the year: ciliegini, ovolini, burrata, stacciatela, mozzarella di bufala … fresh cheese at its best. So, what are the differences? Here’s a guide to summer cheese.
Someone said “pasta filata” to me, What the heck does that mean?
Pasta filata in cheese translates to “pulled curd.” Bascially curds and cultures are heated so that they can be stretched, which gives you that beautiful stringy mozzarella texture. (Provolone, scamorza, caciocavallo, etc. are also pasta filata cheeses.) The process of making mozzarealla is also why most fresh mozzarella is lactose free. The cheese must acidify quickly, and when you say “acidify” in cheesemaking, you are converting the lactose in the milk to lactic acid.
Isn’t all mozzarella “fresh”?
When we say “fresh mozzarella” it can be a little confusing because all mozzarella is young. “Fresh” means that the mozzarella is sold in water as opposed to “low moisture” mozzarella that is cut and wrapped. Fresh mozzarella is what you want with ripe tomatoes, olive oil, basil, and a bit of salt.
Wait, what are these other Italian words on the packages?
Mostly, the words will relate to the size of the mozzarella balls. You will see designations like “ciliegini” and “ovolini” on mozzarella packages. These simply refer to the size of the cheese. Ciliegini means cherry-sized. Ovolini means egg-sized, etc. You can almost always see the size of the cheese you are buying, so no need to memorize.
What kind of milk is mozzarella made out of?
I once went to a local pizza place, ordered the “mozzarella di bufala” and was disappointed that it came with a cow milk cheese. I mean, I like all mozzarellas, but they didn’t even realize they were false advertising. They thought that was just Italian for fresh mozzarella! While there are great cow milk fresh mozzarellas—and we sell more of those than anything else—mozzarella di bufala is from the milk of water buffalo, which is traditional in Italy. We have some from Italy, some from Colombia, and—soon—some made in New Jersey from a Canadian herd. You won’t usually see any goat milk fresh mozzarella (though you can get low moisture) because the proteins in goat milk cannot handle the stretching that turns the curd into that beautiful texture you get with water buffalo or cow milk.
What about burrata (NSFW)?
Burrata is fresh mozzarella filled with cream. I can’t say this at work, but this is the Bay Times, right? A customer once came up to me after having burrata the first time and said, “It was like an angel came in my mouth.” There is a big trend these days to put burrata on everything. You do you, but it can make your pizza pretty soggy if you are not careful. Please note, we just started getting in our Italian burratas (Ignalat brand) for the summer, both regular and smoked.
How about stracciatella? I heard that’s even better!
Often described as the inside of a burrata, it’s probably more accurate to say it’s a chopped up burrata. Local fresh pasta pop-up Sfoglia Club based a whole dinner around this cheese. OMG, it’s good. We only get a little of this in from Italy every two weeks, so you may want to grab it if you see it.
Any other cheeses I should think about for summer?
Teleme, Always. This California original is my favorite cheese in the world. It’s good for everything, but tomato season is another reason to eat it. Then there’s crescenza, a fresh milky, sour, Italian cheese. No one makes this locally anymore, but you can think of it as a fresher teleme without the rind. And don’t sleep on another super perishable cheese, panela. We don’t get much in at a time, but this Mexican-style cheese is made in Brentwood, California, by the 3rd generation cheesemakers at Queso Salazar. This cheese is great fried in butter, and it goes really well with ripe tomatoes.
What are you waiting for? Remember, ripe tomatoes and fresh cheese can be a dinner if you eat enough of them.
Gordon Edgar loves cheese and worker co-ops and has been combining these infatuations as the cheese buyer for Rainbow Grocery Cooperative since 1994. He serves on the American Cheese Society Judging and Competition Committee and is a member of the Guilde Internationale des Fromagers. Edgar has written two books on cheese—”Cheesemonger” (2010) and “Cheddar” (2015)—and lives in San Francisco with his adorable white mini schnauzer named Fillmore Grumble. He writes about grief, and sometimes cheese, at https://bit.ly/42IwYf0
Over the Rainbow Cheese Counter
Published on July 16, 2026
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