BURRATA FROM ANDRIA IGP

DESCRIPTION, HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS
History: Burrata was born at the beginning of the 1930s, when, due to a heavy snowfall, the Andriesi cheesemakers (experts in the art of Manteca, i.e. the art of preserving butter in scamorza paste), were unable to bring milk from the slopes of Castel del Monte (famous manor of Frederick II of Swabia) to the city of Andria, they had to transform the raw material (milk) so as not to waste it. So it was that, using the same techniques for making manteca, they created a bag made of spun paste and filled it with shreds of the same paste immersed in the cream that naturally emerged from the milk (he gave the name stracciatella to this filling, precisely because the stretched curd was “torn”), finally, they enclosed everything giving the product a characteristic apical closure, thus the first Burrata di Andria was born.
Today the Burrata of Andria is the highest agri-food expression of Puglia, an example of the ability to make a virtue out of necessity, of how the knowledge and culture of a territory can solve a problem even creating an Excellence… Excellence not only gastronomic but above all Cultural, capable of representing an entire territory, its values, its history and its inhabitants.
Distinguishing features:
1) Raw materials selected and compulsorily complying with the quality parameters established by the production specifications both from a physical-chemical and organoleptic, as well as hygienic-sanitary point of view;
Fat w/w > 3.30 %
Protein w/w > 3.20%
Somatic cells ≤ 400,000 cells/ml
Inhibitors absent
Cryoscopic index < 520 mc°
Mesophilic bacterial load 30° C ≤ 100,000 cfu/ml for pasteurized milk
Mesophilic bacterial load 30 °C ≤ 300,000 cfu / ml for raw milk
Acidity degrees SH % 6.00:8.00, or pH 6.60:6.80
Aflatoxin M1 < 0.05 ppb
Phosphatase:
if raw milk positive
if pasteurized milk negative
2) shred* the pasta until you obtain thin “irregular lights”
3) thin and uniform external bag (or casing), around 2 mm thick,
4) cream leakage and frays when cut,
5) apical closure
6) pleasant hints of fresh lactic and cream on the palate,
7) weight between 100 and 1000 grams,
8) to be stored at + 4°, to be consumed preferably by bringing it to the table one or two hours before consumption.
*the fraying is made up of the thin irregular filaments of stretched curd which together with the cream make up the filling of the Burrata di Andria (called “Stracciatella” – a term which recalls the “tearing” of breaking the stretched curd into filaments)
– Curiosity, when Burrata di Andria was invented, the bag was blown by mouth (inflated like a balloon), today this operation is no longer possible for obvious health reasons.
– Curiosity, in the past the product was wrapped with asphodel leaves, a typical Murgia plant, today this packaging is no longer possible in compliance with health regulations, therefore fake asphodel leaves are used in the packaging.
– The I.G.P. Recognition : in November 2016 Burrata was recognized by the European Union as a Protected Geographical Indication product with the name Burrata di Andria, therefore equipped with:
1) of a production specification that regulates the quality of the raw materials, the production and packaging methods, the affixing of logos and the complete traceability of the product from the raw material to the finished product.
2) a system of controls that each producer must accept and respect and which provides for both the intervention of a control body, appointed by MASAF, which verifies compliance with the specifications by the producers, and the intervention of the Consortium, recognized by MASAF itself, which protects the denomination.