Galbani Mozzarella Fresca- a review

Last week I tried the Galbani fresh mozzarella, which I had never seen before in the US. I have been buying the American Belgioioso, which is good and which I recommended a few years ago, here.

Galbani is an old and glorious brand from Italy, which was started in the 19th century. When I was a kid in Italy I remember its advertising slogan, "Galbani vuol dire fiducia,"- Galbani means trust. Apparently though at a certain point they forgot the meaning of fiducia and were implicated in a food scandal, which I covered here. In the meantime, even more bizarre mozzarella mishaps, unrelated to Galbani, have occurred in Italy, including some blue mozzarella from Germany. As if it weren't bizarre enough that the Italians were importing mozzarella from Germany. And their renowned (and expensive) mozzarella di bufala is suspect because its provenance in Campania is among the most polluted areas in Italy, as I already informed you here.

Anyway. To make a long story even longer (mozzarella is my favorite cheese, it deserves all the attention), I intrepidly purchased the little tub of bocconcini, risking unexpected blueness, possible Germanness, sudden death. Fortunately, the label reassured me that it was made here in the US, and as you can see by the fact that I am writing this, I survived. At least a few days. The bocconcini in their liquid impressed me with their pleasantly irregular shape. The taste was fresh and the texture was an improvement over Belgioioso. Quite good. As the price was the same, if I remember correctly, I shall now be using Galbani as my mozzarella of choice. They also make mascarpone and ricotta, which I shall also try. But I intend to make my own ricotta soon- I'll keep you posted.

If you too are a risk-taker, here are my recipes for a real, essential Caprese salad and mozzarella in carrozza. Please also note that "mozzarella" is pronounced with an "oh" sound, not an "ah" sound. The latter is most unattractive.