Costa Ships Produce Real Italian Mozzarella Cheese at Sea

You could call this news cheesy, but I call it deliziosa. Costa Cruises has announced the arrival of a new product on its ships that embodies the best of the Italian culinary tradition: authentic top-quality Italian mozzarella produced directly onboard.

"Thanks to the collaboration of Latteria del Curatino, Costa Cruises is the first company in the world to serve its guests mozzarella made onboard like in a real creamery. This new service is already available onboard our flagship Costa Diadema and on Costa Favolosa; in the next few months will also arrive on board six other ships," announced Giuseppe Carino, VP Guest Experience and Onboard Revenues at Costa Cruises.

"Latteria del Curatino" is an Italian brand created by the cooperation between two Campania-based dairy companies: Comat”, an international leader for dairy plants and machines; and Podere dei Leoni creamery, a leading producer of certified quality buffalo mozzarella.

Mozzarella is made onboard Costa ships using Comat's innovative steam- and electricity-powered machine. The key ingredient is the curd of cow and buffalo milk that comes from the Piana del Sele (Salerno) area and is of the utmost certified quality. The stretched curd produced by the machine is then rolled into a ball (mozzato) to create a mozzarella as tradition demands, or artfully shaped and moulded by the expert hands of the cheesemakers to become buffalo mozzarella, fiordilatte, burrata, stracciata, zizzona, sfoglia, and scamorza cheese. As well as providing guests with a fresh and tasty speciality, preventing storage at low temperatures from impairing its flavor and aroma, this new service will also make it possible to eliminate waste by producing only the exact quantity of mozzarella needed.

The mozzarella and other traditional Italian cheese specialities produced onboard are the stars of the special "Goccialatte" menu available in the onboard Pummid'oro pizzerias. The menu will comprise a mozzarella roll with salad, vegetables and smoked salmon; tomato and buffalo mozzarella done three different ways; tuna with Doganella oil, red onions and burrata; beef carpaccio with a chicory salad and smoked scamorza; warm focaccia, mortadella and stracciatella cheese served with pickled vegetables made on board; or Neapolitan peasant bread, porcini, fiordilatte cheese and guanciale.

Fiordilatte and buffalo mozzarella will also be used for the pizzas of the Pummid'oro pizzeria, prepared exclusively with sourdough and select ingredients, thanks to the support of the University of Food Science of Pollenzo. Over the following months the cheese specialities will also enrich the dishes of the regional menus served in the onboard restaurants.

The daily production of the mozzarella will be overseen on each ship by two specialist cheesemakers who have attended a specific training course held onboard by expert cheesemakers from Latteria del Curatino to teach them how to produce excellent mozzarella and other cheeses in accordance with the finest Italian traditions.

Image Courtesy Costa Cruises