Dairy
Scamorza
Scamorza is a southern Italian pasta filata cheese of cow’s milk (sometimes mixed), stretched like mozzarella then shaped into a pear or gourd with a small head and hung to dry briefly. Short air-drying firms the paste beyond fresh mozzarella while keeping it elastic and mild; smoked scamorza (affumicata) adds a tan rind and gentle smoke without long ageing. It is sliced for grilling, baking, and sandwiches where melt and light chew matter more than fresh-ball moisture. It bridges fresh mozzarella and longer-aged pasta filata cheeses such as provolone and caciocavallo.
Also known as: Scamorza affumicata
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History
Hung, briefly dried pasta filata forms were common farm cheeses in Campania, Apulia, and neighbouring southern regions.
The pear-with-head shape and name scamorza became standard for short-kept stretched cow’s-milk cheeses of the south.
Local smokehouses produced scamorza affumicata as a firmer, more aromatic variant for cooking and travel.
Industrial pasta filata lines added scamorza balls and loaves for national deli and pizza-topping use.
Grilled scamorza became a restaurant and home-cooking staple across Italy beyond its southern origin.
Export of mild and smoked scamorza grew with interest in melting Italian cheeses short of full provolone ageing.