On day six we moved from Rome to the next city, Vico Equense. And, yay, we have our "ol' faithful" driver back from last year--Giuseppe of Lucca. Pick up was 07:15. His large van fit all 14 of us which meant we were traveling in one vehicle (looked brand new) for the rest of the trip. He loaded us and our tons of luggage and belongings, a little bit of a puzzle. Then off we went to the Campania region.
On the way we saw this structure--a see-through web of metal. Not sure what it was, but fascinating. Italians are soooo design savvy.
It was a 2-hour drive to our first stop. At 09:30 we arrived at Torre (tower) Lupara-DOP, a mozzarella di buffalo cheese processing facility. Just as Italian wines are certified "genuine" by DOC and DOCG markings, foods like prosciutto and cheeses as certified by a DOP label. The location, manufacturing process, and materials are very strict before you can use this designation.
We met Manuela Vigliotta and her husband (right) (Chef John on left), developers and owners. They are absolutely the cutest couple. The family has owned the business since the 1940s.
The vibrant Manuela led our tour. First we walked down a hallway, where we saw the cheese-making process step-by-step though a long viewing window. She explained the activity from raw water buffalo milk to the final cheese product as we watched the workers at various stops along the way.
We've been to several cheese processing places, but this was quite modern, mostly mechanized, and particularly conscious of sanitation and environmental issues. I won't describe the process again as I have done it a few times, but here are some photos of the operation.
Lots of stainless steel equipment. Much of this equipment was developed by the family in the 80s, including kneading, stretching, and forming machines.
Various sizes of "ball forming" dies.
Forming the mozzarella balls.
Mozzarella balls floating and resting in their whey.
Sometimes it takes the human touch of two to stretch, shape, and forming the product.
Finished product of a fresh mozzarella braid.
Packaging machine.
Next we blue bootied up (to protect the water buffalo from any infection on our shoes). Manuela showed us posters to educate us on statistics and demonstrate their farming process.
Here is a photo of just some of the land where they raise livestock. The pinkish house mid-right is where we would taste cheese samples.
Then we saw the long sheds where the buffalo live at night and are protected from weather. There are ten altogether and each has its own birthing room and nursery.
A feeding area.
So as you can see these "cow" gals are nothing like the brown American bison / buffalo with their curly, shaggy "manes." These are water buffalo, the kind you'd see in Viet Nam era news reels in the rice patties. These have black hair, longish horns, and oh so sweet faces.
They are huge but seemed so docile you just wanted to reach out and pet them, but that was a no-no for health reasons...the buffalo's health. All have yellow ear tags and some also have various colors of ankle bracelets for identification.
As these are water buffalo, it makes sense that they like to hang out in the water. So each of the ten sheds has its own garden and dipping pond. Pools are set up with a long gradual slope from barn to water. The buffalo can leisurely stroll in or out at will, but they were mostly in while we were there. So cute, I must have taken over 100 photos. Here's a few.
The two tanks in back are a water purification system that separates the dung and urine from the waters. Their capacity is 4,000 cubic meters of liquid and 1,000 of solid waste. One meter of liquid is 244 gallons!! If I remember correctly, they change the pond waters twice a day.
Stacy taking a photo. They were so curious, all staring at us as we strolled along.
There were a few calves mixed in, but mostly grown-ups.
They had shady areas to keep cool.
Showers are set up to help keep them cool as well.
Manuela feeding the buffalo and telling us what a happy and contented life they have. Less stress helps them produce higher quantity and better quality of wonderful water buffalo milk.
We met Manuela Vigliotta and her husband (right) (Chef John on left), developers and owners. They are absolutely the cutest couple. The family has owned the business since the 1940s.
The vibrant Manuela led our tour. First we walked down a hallway, where we saw the cheese-making process step-by-step though a long viewing window. She explained the activity from raw water buffalo milk to the final cheese product as we watched the workers at various stops along the way.
We've been to several cheese processing places, but this was quite modern, mostly mechanized, and particularly conscious of sanitation and environmental issues. I won't describe the process again as I have done it a few times, but here are some photos of the operation.
Lots of stainless steel equipment. Much of this equipment was developed by the family in the 80s, including kneading, stretching, and forming machines.
Various sizes of "ball forming" dies.
Forming the mozzarella balls.
Mozzarella balls floating and resting in their whey.
Sometimes it takes the human touch of two to stretch, shape, and forming the product.
Finished product of a fresh mozzarella braid.
Next we blue bootied up (to protect the water buffalo from any infection on our shoes). Manuela showed us posters to educate us on statistics and demonstrate their farming process.
Then we saw the long sheds where the buffalo live at night and are protected from weather. There are ten altogether and each has its own birthing room and nursery.
A feeding area.
So as you can see these "cow" gals are nothing like the brown American bison / buffalo with their curly, shaggy "manes." These are water buffalo, the kind you'd see in Viet Nam era news reels in the rice patties. These have black hair, longish horns, and oh so sweet faces.
They are huge but seemed so docile you just wanted to reach out and pet them, but that was a no-no for health reasons...the buffalo's health. All have yellow ear tags and some also have various colors of ankle bracelets for identification.
As these are water buffalo, it makes sense that they like to hang out in the water. So each of the ten sheds has its own garden and dipping pond. Pools are set up with a long gradual slope from barn to water. The buffalo can leisurely stroll in or out at will, but they were mostly in while we were there. So cute, I must have taken over 100 photos. Here's a few.
The two tanks in back are a water purification system that separates the dung and urine from the waters. Their capacity is 4,000 cubic meters of liquid and 1,000 of solid waste. One meter of liquid is 244 gallons!! If I remember correctly, they change the pond waters twice a day.
Stacy taking a photo. They were so curious, all staring at us as we strolled along.
They had shady areas to keep cool.
Manuela feeding the buffalo and telling us what a happy and contented life they have. Less stress helps them produce higher quantity and better quality of wonderful water buffalo milk.
Long eyelashes.
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