Say Cheese: Whose 'Mutz' Rocks?

When the Food Network was in its infancy, David Rosengarten hosted a show called "Taste" with each episode devoted to a specific product. One episode that caught my attention was all about mozzarella. Rosengarten rhapsodized so effusively on the virtues of fresh mozzarella that I was tempted to throw the kids in the car — even though they were still in their pajamas — and drive to New York City to procure the perfect piece of cheese.

It's now easy to find ambrosial mutz down the block or at the local farmer's market, so we decided to institute the inaugural Springfield Index blind taste test. Patch columnist Deb Amlen was down with the idea, as was her daughter Carly. I then recruited neighbors Gloria and Len Feiner, Lynda MarcAntonio and Irma Kaplan to serve as panelists in this gustatory endeavor.

A note about process:  All of the cheeses were removed from their wrapping, cut up into bite-sized pieces and served on paper plates, which were marked with the producers' name on the bottom. Each plate was labeled with a letter of the alphabet and tasters were asked to grade each cheese from 5 (favorite) to 1. The numbers were tallied to find the winner.  Tasters were encouraged to cleanse their palates in-between cheese bites with lemon sorbet, mineral water and plain crackers. 

That said, this totally unscientific and subjective taste-testing among friends and neighbors, found that Liori, a Union staple, earned  the top spot with 26 points. Liori's cheeses are sold at the Wine Library and Whole Foods. Hoboken Farms, a new addition to the Springfield Farmer's Market was a close second. See below for results.

"I know that you can cook mozzarella in many things, but I didn't realize there were so many different recipes for the cheese," Carly Amlen said. "There are so many textures and flavors" Her mother, Deb, added, "I wasn't surprised that Liori's was the winner. It tasted artisanal, natural. Usually supermarket cheese tastes like supermarket cheese. This had an incredible texture."

The test also created another "mutz" convert. "I haven't really been thinking about mozzarella, when I was growing up, we were more of a cream-cheese or cottage-cheese family," said Len Feiner. "But since moving to Springfield,  now I recollect that I have had a lot of mozzarella in hot and cold sandwiches and in salads. 

His wife, Gloria, added, "Hoboken Farms was my favorite going in, I was surprised that the Liori tasted better and had a superior texture. Some of the cheeses we tasted were actually watery. I never gave much thought to the difference in texture as well as taste. On a general note, when we started tasting we could actually compare from cheese to cheese—one was spongy, another was rubbery  they were all different, one had full flavor, another had no flavor, another was too salty.

"One was like butter," Marc Antonio said. "A different one was overly salty. But it was really nice to bring the neighbors together for this. Next time we'll do a wine tasting at my house!"

All test mozzarella freshly made that day, with whole milk, with the exception of the Shop Rite cheese-aisle sample (which we've happily used in lasagna or other baked pasta dishes.)

In order of taste-testing preference:

Liori of Union, available at Wine Library, 586 Morris Ave.  Whole Foods, 2245 Springfield Ave, Vauxhall $5.00 for 1/2 lb

Hoboken Farms, Springfield Farmer's Market @ JDHS, $5.00 for a 'small' approx. ½ lb.-- 

Cioffi's, 762 Mountain Ave, $8.99 per lb

Antonio Mozzarella Factory, 71 Springfield Ave,  $5.99 per 1/2 lb

Shop Rite, 727 Morris Ave, (packaged and processed) $1.87 for 1/2 lb