It had been talked about for a while. The debate had held sway last summer. Now everything is reality: even the Apulia has its own mozzarella Dop, precisely that of Gioia del Colle. The derby between Puglia and Campania ends in a draw and the South now has two protected designations of origin.
A querelle that ends after heated controversy from Neapolitan farmers, who have come out in strong defense of the Campania product, according to them the only one that can receive and boast the prestigious mark.
But the Apulian cousin held her own and, banking on her juicy softness, amid controversy and appeals, managed to win the coveted "queen" award of the italian mozzarella.
The news came from Confagricoltura Bari and Bat with its president, Michele Lacenere. The Tar has "quelled" the heated controversy by pointing to the milk: buffalo for the Neapolitans, cow's milk for the Apulians. A detail that cannot create confusion between the two products, which in this way maintain their own and peculiar dignity.
The president of Confagricoltura Bari, remarked that the Apulian mozzarella is cow's and boasts equally illustrious birth and ancient origins, with a centuries-old tradition of raising and processing cow's milk pasta.
The production of mozzarella from Gioia del Colle sees the use of only cows' milk, which spend at least and obligatorily 150 days a year on pasture, and fed 60 percent by local grasses and hay.
Assumed that even for the Puglia now mozzarella is DOP, there remain stringent regulations regarding not only the grazing period and animal feeding, but also regarding the ban on selected milk enzymes and citric acid or the timing of milk processing, which must be no more than 36 hours after milking.
