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Mozzarella Bar Opens In Rome

Posted by Adam Kuban, September 22, 2004 at 10:59 AM

In Rome. A bar. Doesn't serve alcohol. Think sushi bar. Then substitute cheese for fish. From the New York Times:

Òbikà is Rome's, and probably history's, first mozzarella bar. Since it opened about five months ago, at Via dei Prefetti 26a, near the Pantheon, it has been doing a brisk business.

"People are tired of pasta and pizza," said Andrea Corsetti, one of the owners. "Mozzarella has always been considered a poor food. But we said it should be valued. It represents Italy."

Armando Gambera, an associate professor at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo who specializes in cheese, agreed. He noted historical documentation of mozzarella's existence as far back as 1200, though it became widespread in southern Italy only in the 1700's. Neapolitan pizza then introduced it to northern Italy and the world a century later, yet people started eating the cheese on its own only after the Second World War.

But that mozzarella, such an unassuming, plain cheese, has to dress up in lavish garnishes and carry an entire restaurant on its soft, round shoulders, shows the astronomic pretensions that gastronomic culture has taken on, Professor Gambera said.

"Now it's become a status symbol," he said. "Cheese is fashionable, and mozzarella is the cheese of the moment. It's prêt-à-porter."

We object, of course, to the sentiment that "people are tired of pasta and pizza." (Well, we can see pasta, but pizza?! Mamma mia!)

Making mozzarella isn't as difficult as you'd think. (Making good mozzarella—that's another story.) Here's Alaina, from NYC Eats, on her own cheesemaking experience: Hands-On Mozzarella.

[Thanks to Janelle for tipping us to this early this morning.]

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