Talk:Mozzarella

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Etimology from "mozzare" is not commonly known as the most likely origin of the noun. Besides, there is no cutting action in mozzarella's production, being made similarly to cheese.

You may be right about this-- I'm no expert. However, various stories I have read give the etymology of the word as emanating from the noun "mozza", which was an offering given to monastic visitors. That certainly explains the lack of "cutting" in the process. I have no idea if this theory is true, false, or simply less likely than the alternatives. I leave it to you. -D

I really can only imagine mozzarella related with scamorza, quite similar in the process too (BTW, this effectively can be found smoked, I am not aware of smoked mozzarella) and both common in the same areas (southern Latium and Campania); where does "scamorza" come from is a mistery to me too, I just recalled a version I once heard in those areas.

About monasteries, it could be an interesting hypothesis, but in this sense: in medieval society, monasteries had the economical power, they owned the land and the instruments to work it, practically farmers had nothing but the need to work. They also had to pay for the land and the instruments, so the monasteries enjoyed a special right called manomorta, totally similar in its effects to a tax (later it was called decima ="the tenth part", having this right been sensibly reduced). As they usually were paid partly in money and partly in goods, maybe scamorza could come from manomorta.

I had also searched on an italian etymology dictionary, but these terms weren't listed, so... I am afraid it will remain a tasty mistery, at the moment - Gianfranco

There IS cutting in the traditional production method. "The cheesemaker kneads it with his hands, like a baker making bread, until he obtains a smooth, shiny paste, a strand of which he pulls out and lops off, forming the individual mozzarella ("mozzare" in Italian in fact means to lop off). " Quoted from Mozzarella di Bufala Campana trade organization Feel free to revise the Mozzarella article if you get to it before I do...--Unfocused 05:15, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Name

Surely this article should be at Mozzarella, given WP naming conventions and the fact that the name has, AFAIK, no other use? Palmiro | Talk 19:50, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

you are absolutely correct. --Bob 20:16, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Fior di latte

There is now a page with the title Fior-di-latte. Perhaps it could be somehow merged with this? I didn't link the main article to it as I wasn't sure it would be there for ever.HJMG 16:07, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

It also sounds to me exactly like the kind of mozzarella you get in supermarkets! I recommend you be bold and merge it. Palmiro | Talk 21:20, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

One day I probably will - but haven't done a merge before - maybe someone will beat me to it. HJMG 09:07, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

Merged. Merging is quite easy just copy the text over, try to integrate it with the text of the article you merging with, and leave a redirect in the place of the article you are killing.--JK the unwise 16:08, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

this should not have been done. technically the two are completely different cheeses, mozzarella is mozzarella, fior di latte is fior di latte. just because people commonly confuse the two does not mean that the article should have them together. 129.133.143.171 10:09, 6 December 2006 (UTC)