If you've been to an authentic Italian pizzeria, you've probably seen “Fior di Latte” on the menu. However, there are many misconceptions about what cheese should be used on pizza, which is why we've chosen to write this article.
Here, you'll find out everything you need to know about Naples' favorite pizza cheese - Fior di Latte - and whether it's something you should use. Spoiler alert: you may be surprised by the answer.
Fior di Latte for beginners
Fior di Latte is also known as cow's milk mozzarella. Unlike buffalo mozzarella (Mozzarella di Bufala), Fior di Latte is made from cow's milk, which results in a slightly milder taste. According to our research (if you can call it that), Fior di Latte is the chosen cheese on about 70% of pizzas in Naples. It's undoubtedly the favorite.So why is it so good? It's simply the perfect pizza cheese. The taste is mild with a hint of sweetness. Besides, it's refreshing and fresh, while a good Fior di Latte has a clear hint of cow's milk.
The texture is creamy, but it doesn't become unpleasantly runny on the pizza, like other cheese can. Last but not least, it melts well; the cheese isn't too hard or too soft, and the pizza looks beautiful.
Fior di Latte on pizza
Using Fior di Latte on pizza isn't tricky, but it demands a bit more from the chef than ready-grated "pizza cheese".
The most crucial thing to get right is dryness. If you use one of our Fior di Latte cheeses, they are noticeably drier than store-bought ones, but it's still vital that the cheese isn't too wet. When the cheese is too wet, it will leak fluid on the pizza, mixing with the tomato sauce, which leads to a rather unpleasant result with a thin, pink tomato sauce.
To dry the cheese, you can use a kitchen towel where you simply remove excess fluid. Then you can also further dry the cheese when you've cut it up. Additionally, you could also experiment with short air-drying.
The second thing you have to get right is the size of the pieces. The taste here is quite personal, and the right size also depends on the cheese. We encourage everyone to try what they like most, whether it's small pieces that are evenly distributed or large dollops with gaps.
Good uses besides pizza
Fior di Latte can be used for many other things besides pizza. Here are three excellent examples:
Salad
A mild and creamy cheese like a good Fior di Latte goes well with many salads, for example, caprese salad. A caprese salad is a classic appetizer that in Sweden is often served with boring mozzarella. Here, it's just salad, tomato, basil, and cheese as the main ingredients, so a genuinely good Fior di Latte can make the dish much more exciting.
Panini
Fior di Latte is suitable in a hot panini or any other warm sandwich where you want a creamy cheese with good flavor that doesn't take over. There are endlessly many delightful panini combinations, but we like to keep it simple: good bread (e.g., ciabatta), prosciutto, Fior di Latte, olive oil, and a little garlic.
Pasta dishes
You can use Fior di Latte in many pasta dishes. We recently tried a Fettuccine Alfredo with spinach, where we topped it with a dollop of Fior di Latte. The result was both visually appealing and delicious.
Should you use Fior di Latte?
Contrary to what many probably think, Fior di Latte is not the cheese we usually recommend for home pizza baking. The reason is simple, though sad: the Fior di Latte in Swedish stores is kind of lousy.
This is usually the case, at least if you shop at the major classic stores. There are several reasons why it's not always so pleasant, but it's based on a flawed production process that goes too fast, uses pasteurized milk, and lacks lactic acid bacteria.
All these mistakes plus a few others lead to a cheese that hardly tastes anything. That's why we recommend most people to use buffalo mozzarella instead. Even though it's not always perfect in Sweden, a mediocre buffalo mozzarella is often much better than the best Swedish Fior di Latte.
Lilla Napoli's assortment of Fior di Latte
At Lilla Napoli, we sell two high-quality Fior di Latte cheeses. They have their different advantages, but you can make a great pizza with both.
