Gad Baby Mozzarella
All the commonly available kosher fresh mozzarella products I’ve seen bear hekshers our family does not accept, so it was exciting to find a new choice from Gad Dairies of Israel. Their Baby Mozzarella is available at the Butcherie in a smallish reclosable plastic container, holding several miniature balls of fresh mozzarella in liquid. These bocconcini had a soft, slightly chewy texture, as was expected, but its very mild flavor was skewed by a hint of spice (something like cinnamon, oddly) which I could have done without.
This mozzarella is good for tossing in a hot bowl of pasta, stuffing into a calzone, cutting in half and placing on a pizza, or broiled on bruschetta. Or just make a snack out if it: mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil, and some fresh, chopped herbs.
Another nice thing about this product is its clearly written expiration date. The label spelled out fully the month of expiration, which is very important when dealing with non-American cheeses (i.e. does 4/9/04 mean April 9 or September 4). Such confusion has led to some unfortunate experiences with Danish blue cheese in my kitchen.
We haven’t bought it in a while, but The Butcherie carries larger 8 oz?) balls of Gideon mozzarella. They are wrapped in plastic rather than floating in water, so they aren’t the same kind of fresh, but as I recall they tasted better than the usual dried-out shrink-wrapped kind. Also, it could have been a mirage induced by my frenzy to get out of the store before they physically ejected me at 7:59 last night, but I think I saw smaller Gideon mozzarella chunks in some non-oil liquid…
Is it chalav Yisroel?