Mozzarella from Mulshi: our morning cheese run

The mozzarella on our pizzas is made every morning by a small dairy in Mulshi, about 35 kilometres west of Koregaon Park. It is never more than twelve hours old when it goes into the oven, and that freshness is the reason we can bake at 450 °C without the cheese turning oily.

The day starts at 5 am, when farmers around the dairy bring in buffalo and cow milk in steel cans. Sunita, who runs the dairy with her brother, tests each can and mixes the milk for the day. It is warmed, cultured and set with rennet, and by about 7 am the curd is firm enough to cut and drain.

Then comes the stretching. The curd is broken into pieces and covered with water at about 85 °C, and Sunita works it with a wooden paddle until it turns smooth and elastic. She pulls it into long ropes, folds it on itself and pinches off balls of about 125 g, which drop into cold brine. The whole stretch takes less than half an hour for our 40 kg.

Our van collects the cheese at 9 am, and it reaches our kitchen before 11. It is kept in its brine at 4 °C and torn by hand, not grated, just before each pizza goes in. Fresh mozzarella holds more water than the aged blocks used for most pizza, which is why ours melts into soft pools rather than a stretchy sheet. On the rare day the dairy cannot deliver, we tell you at the door.