Tenuta Vannulo

Naples, Italy (The Joy of Food) — Buffalo mozzarella is the pinnacle of dairy: that wondrous thing somewhere between yogurt and custard and cottage cheese and ricotta. Somehow, it manages to be both solid and liquid at the same time. When cut, it will weep outwardly in a perfect river of tears, and so will you.

This mozzarella nirvana can only happen in one place, one where the buffalo watch you walk through the front door. Campania, Italy, is home to food that consistently rates as some of the best in the world. Other reasons to visit the area include the looming Vesuvius, the winding Amalfi Coast, and the mesmerizing cliffs of Capri, but priorities, people: there’s cheese.

The tiny town of Paestum is ground zero for much of Italy’s produzione della mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella production) and is filled with dozens of cheese factories where you can learn the fine art of cheese-making. Think Napa Valley, but with cheese factories instead.

Tenuta Vannulo ranks as one of the most famous of these, an organic caseificio (cheese maker) making 800 pounds of hand-pulled mozzarella daily. Despite the high production volume, they usually run out.

Great cheese comes from happy buffalo. Life here is like Canyon Ranch for the 600 water buffalo that call Vannulo home, a serene place where they’re pampered with classical music and spa amenities like massage stations, comfy lounge mattresses, and showers. If these buffalo have it better than you do, raise your hand.

Each hand-produced mozzarella is enveloped by a springy exterior shell that, once cut, reveals a texture that’s firm, yet molten enough to flow with milk. The taste is delicate, tangy, sweet, cool, and vividly fresh. In the world’s pantheon of glorious cheeses, this is like no other. Ice cream and yogurt are also produced on-site, all of it lusciously creamy due to buffalo milk’s higher fat percentage when compared to cow’s milk (fior di latte).

The location is rich with the kinds of details that scream rustic abundance despite the large, commercialized experience that Vannulo has become. The store part of the compound has daily crowds like Black Friday and fist fights (over cheese) are not uncommon. With this in mind, there are other smaller, more intimate, family-run operations throughout the Paestum area.

Some of the best-preserved Greek ruins in the world also stand nearby which, anywhere else, would be the key reason to visit this sleepy part of southwestern Italy. But not here. It’s all about the cheese farms and stuffing yourself full of delicious mozzarella.

Written by Joy

Thanks for reading. The Joy of Food blog celebrates eating well, traveling often, and living la dolce vita. San Diego, California is home base, but thoughts are from all over. Reviews and photos help to highlight wonderful (or not) food experiences from around the world.

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