“The fatty cream is its secret....”

October 12, 2020 12:13 PM

BBC Culinary Roots: “The first time you see a burrata sitting on a plate, tilted, you might be perplexed. Burrata is as white as mozzarella but comes with a strange narrowing at the top, like a giant dumpling. With a knife and fork, you poke the pouch, knowing something hides below that initial cheese layer. With a firm stroke, you cut the sachet in two, and the filling made of cream and mozzarella strips spills out and spreads across the plate. You roll the mozzarella strips with your fork like spaghetti, and with cream dripping, you have the first bite: an explosion of milk mixed with sweet cream and mozzarella.”
posted by Wordshore (31 comments total)

Oh... oh my.

I love you Wordshore but I'm sometimes I worry you're trying to murder most of us with a finely honed arsenal of delicious dairy fats.
posted by loquacious at 12:16 PM on October 12, 2020 [11 favorites]

Burrata is fantastic. Quality oil, great balsamic, nice bread and you've got a fiiiiiiiiiiiine meal.

...and now I wish I had some. Argh.
posted by aramaic at 12:24 PM on October 12, 2020 [6 favorites]

"Wouldst thou wish to live unctuously?"
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:25 PM on October 12, 2020 [14 favorites]

This is a fabulous article! Thank you for posting it, Wordshore. I had no idea how burrata was made. What a history and process. I had it for the very first time last summer and could not believe I had waited so long to enjoy this deliciousness. It was transcendent! The quote in this post is by no means an exaggeration.

Unfortunately it turned out to be a little too rich for my body to handle gracefully (I really should have known better), but I still don’t regret having tried it. Would likely make the same painful but delicious mistake again!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:41 PM on October 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

I hear a high, whistling noise coming from my arteries but I'm willing to ignore it for a bite or two of your burrata...
posted by jim in austin at 12:45 PM on October 12, 2020 [6 favorites]

Okay. Now I'm hungry. Thanks.
posted by Splunge at 12:53 PM on October 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

And yet if you ate a bowl of shredded mozzarella covered in cream like it was a bowl of cereal, they would call you mad.
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:54 PM on October 12, 2020 [26 favorites]

I used to be able to buy 200g of perfectly delicious burrata for less than €2 at Lidl. There is better burrata, but there is no cheaper burrata. I ate a lot of that stuff. Then, one day, they just stopped stocking it. A sad day.
posted by chavenet at 1:02 PM on October 12, 2020 [3 favorites]

I was introduced to this delicacy by a Chef friend of mine. I did not know such unctuousness and deliciousness existed!!

There is a restaurant off Michigan Ave. in Chicago called LaBriola's that has what I consider to be the most decadent deep-dish vegetarian pizza on earth. Its a cheese pizza, with a ton of regular mozzarella (good quality though, this being a decent restaurant); topped with blobs and blobs of burrata. I live alone, so I don't get to this as often as I would like, as it needs at least 3-4 people to consume.


ETA: Here's the menu.
posted by indianbadger1 at 1:10 PM on October 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

I’d gladly use burrata as a pizza topping, but isn’t the pouch the only usable part since the creamy center would make for a soggy pizza (especially at home where my oven can't achieve pizzeria-level heat)? And if you’re only using the pouch, why spring for burrata instead of ordinary fresh mozzarella?

I always assume it's just a gimmick when I see burrata-topped pizza on menus. Help me out here, because I’d like to increase my burrata intake legitimately, if possible.

[on preview: I'm not talking about deep-dish pizza, which is cheating]
posted by theory at 1:12 PM on October 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

@theory

I think they put the burrata on after cooking the pizza. It came to the table as a blob.
posted by indianbadger1 at 1:13 PM on October 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

indianbadger1 I'm sad but glad I do not live near that place! it looks incredibly delicious and dangerous!!!
posted by supermedusa at 1:26 PM on October 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

We had a get together with friends a while back where we ordered from an Italian place that had gnocchi with burrata on the menu.

When the order arrived, they had sent linguine, which would have been a howling disappointment in normal circumstances (I mean, the linguine was fine, but I was promised gnocchi, dammit), except that the burrata made up for it.

From the article:

"You can use burrata for everything, but it doesn’t need anything."

Amen.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:33 PM on October 12, 2020 [3 favorites]

Burrata goes very well with roasted things. Roasted beets with burrata in a salad or on crostini are fantastic. Burrata and roasted pears are another nice pair.
posted by theory at 2:01 PM on October 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

Dairy foods are my comfort foods. This sounds like just the thing to get me through the rest of lockdown!
posted by andraste at 2:03 PM on October 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

Roasted beets with burrata in a salad or on crostini are fantastic.

Since it's vegetable roasting season, this sounds like a plan in need of immediate execution.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:05 PM on October 12, 2020 [4 favorites]

Groan. Every few days comes a way for me to regret turning vegan in 2020.
posted by doctornemo at 2:08 PM on October 12, 2020 [5 favorites]

A common summer supper in our household is Snap peas & Burrata from Smitten Kitchen. We've done it with other green summer veg as well; asparagus was nice, just char them all.

We are lucky to get some beautiful burratas (burrati?) from a dairy not too far from us so it's fresh and beautiful.
posted by snoboy at 2:09 PM on October 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

Is it cruel to mention that I get marvelous freshly-made burrata whenever I want?
posted by desuetude at 2:11 PM on October 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

Have not sampled. Would like to sample. That article led me to another which led me to this: Pound for pound, Parmigiano-Reggiano can compete with almost any food for calcium, amino acids, protein and vitamin A – and is prescribed by doctors to cure ailments.

Sure, they do. If they are Italian doctors.
posted by Bella Donna at 2:12 PM on October 12, 2020 [6 favorites]

Can I be contrarian and just say it's like soggy mozzarella?
posted by conifer at 2:12 PM on October 12, 2020 [7 favorites]

conifer, that's my experience with the kind that I sometimes see at grocery stores like Wegman's.
posted by desuetude at 2:16 PM on October 12, 2020 [4 favorites]

Good burrata is ambrosia. I have wanted to learn to make it for a long time. Perhaps now is the time!
posted by blurker at 3:22 PM on October 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

Get out a flat-bottomed bowl
Line your bowl with spinach leaves
If you can get good cherry tomatoes, halve a few and put them in a circle
Drizzle with a little olive oil

THEN

in the centre

place a large burrata

cut a little x in the top

salt, pepper

then pour a dash of balsamic vinegar into the x

and prepare to be cheeseraptured
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:52 PM on October 12, 2020 [6 favorites]

Burrata and fresh mozzarella are great but generally requiring getting to the grocery store frequently if you, like me, have a big supply of fresh tomatoes in the summer. This year with the pandemic and trying to avoid going to the store too much AND to save money I started making fresh ricotta. It’s amazing on tomatoes and takes minutes to make. Heat milk to 190F (90C) then toss in a few tablespoons of lemon juice, white vinegar or citric acid. Let sit for 10 mins then ladle off the curds or strain. That’s it. Mix in some salt and add some cream to the finished cheese for an even richer ricotta.
posted by misterpatrick at 3:54 PM on October 12, 2020 [7 favorites]

This reminds me of the visit to the maison du beurre I saw on Twitter a few days ago: How traditional French butter is made in Brittany
posted by mogget at 4:09 PM on October 12, 2020 [3 favorites]

Murray's Cheese on Bleecker in NYC had (made?) the most heavenly burrata I've ever eaten. You know, sometimes you love a cheese so much you want different ways to eat it.

My young and stupid me says, it's not good on a pizza. Not if you bake it. Then you get pizza that has soggy areas. Soggy pizza, while accepted as a fact by the chains, is bad pizza.

Eat your pizza. And slurp up your burrata clean and supreme. As it should be.

OTOH... a good, no great balsamic.

I am so damned hungry now. You know how we get great burrata in Orlando? Fly to New York!
posted by Splunge at 5:06 PM on October 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

Wait this post only has one link

Blink once if we need to bring a ransom

Blink twice if the guards are armed
posted by medusa at 10:15 PM on October 12, 2020 [7 favorites]

some number of years ago we attended a super fancy destination wedding in italy with days of parties and great eating, but a singular highlight might have been the ultimate night's feast which included a team of literal grandmothers hand making pasta and a goddamn fresh burrata station on a buffet line. I went to pick up a ball of the just-made burrata and the guy working the station looked at me, offended, and made me put down the tongs and wait for him to make me a fresh ball on the spot. It was not my only stop at his station that evening.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 6:42 AM on October 13, 2020 [6 favorites]

Blink once if we need to bring a ransom

Blink three times if the ransom is 30 kg of fresh burrata.

Blink four times if the ransom is a fully-staffed fresh burrata-making station set up in your kitchen, staffed in shifts so it's able to operate on demand, 24/7.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:41 AM on October 13, 2020 [2 favorites]

A long time ago I saw Lidia Bastianich visit a burrata-making factory on tv. It was probably in Italy. It began a quest to obtain some, which I did, many times, and I always enjoyed it.

It was many years after that, that I realized that the brand new Trader Joe's that opened near me probably had it, and for a very reasonable price. They did. It was excellent. That's the whole story. Burrata is good, the end :-)
posted by 41swans at 12:16 PM on October 14, 2020 [1 favorite]