🧀 Scamorza

Scamorza is an Italian pasta filata cheese, mainly from cow's milk, shaped like a pear or roughly spherical with a small head. It is made all year round and comes plain or smoked; the traditional product lists of Campania and Puglia describe it, and Campania also has a buffalo-milk version. ¹²

Two regional sources on traditional agri-food products (PAT) describe it. Regione Campania describes a semi-cooked, spun cheese, roughly spherical, with a barely visible or a pronounced small head; the name probably comes from its resemblance to a 'capa mozza' (a cut head). It is mainly made from cow's milk, with a prized buffalo-milk version in the provinces of Naples, Salerno and Caserta, and is produced all year across the region. The rind is smooth and thin, ivory white when unsmoked and yellowish-ochre when smoked; the paste is straw-coloured and soft, with a distinctly aromatic taste. Smoking and filling are optional. ¹

The PAT Puglia atlas describes a fresh cheese from cow's milk, traditionally raw, pear-shaped with a short neck or head tied with raffia. It measures 7-9 cm across and 10-12 cm in length and weighs about 250-350 g, up to 500 g; sizes under 100 g and the larger 'scamorzone' (under 1 kg) also exist. It ripens for 1-6 days, up to 20 days in the more mature versions. The rind is thin, white or straw-yellow; the paste shows overlapping sheets and no eyes, and the taste is slightly sweet or mildly savoury. The smoked version is smoked over straw and beech shavings and has a golden skin with a light smoky note. It is produced in the whole region. ²

In Puglia, by tradition, raw cow's milk is warmed to 36–38 °C in tinned copper or steel vats with natural whey starter and calf or kid rennet, and coagulates in about 20–30 minutes. The curd is broken to chickpea or walnut size and left to mature for 2–4 hours and up to 24. It is stretched by hand with a stick in water at 90–92 °C, shaped into a pear, tied with raffia, firmed in cold water for 30–60 minutes and salted in brine for 10 minutes to 3 hours. ²

Local tradition says scamorza arose almost by chance, when a cheesemaker making caciocavallo cut the curd smaller and cooked it at a slightly lower temperature, giving a softer paste. The Puglia atlas links the name to the dialect word scamozzare, the cheesemaker's act of partly cutting the paste by hand. It calls the cheese very versatile in cooking. ²

Scamorza or mozzarella? Both are pasta filata cheeses, made from stretched curd, but scamorza is shaped like a pear or a rough sphere with a small head, often tied with raffia, and it is not smoked mozzarella: smoking is optional. Scamorza or caciocavallo? Local tradition says scamorza arose when a cheesemaker making caciocavallo cut the curd smaller and cooked it at a slightly lower temperature, giving a softer paste. Scamorza or provola? Do not trust the name alone; the rind is the clue, ivory when plain, golden or ochre when smoked.

Look for “scamorza” on the pack, plain or smoked (“affumicata”), and judge by the rind: ivory or white when plain, golden or ochre when smoked. The regional lists of traditional products (PAT) record a tradition, not a protected origin, so there is no PDO symbol to find. Typical weight is about 250–350 g, up to 500 g; the larger scamorzone is under 1 kg. Traditional versions may use raw milk, so read the label. You will find it at a supermarket cheese counter or a delicatessen.

Why it matters to you. Scamorza is not automatically smoked: look at the rind, ivory or white when plain and golden or ochre when smoked. The regional lists of traditional products record a tradition rather than guarantee an origin. Traditional versions may use raw milk, so check the label. ¹²