Burrata

FreshCow MilkItaly, PugliaPGI

Burrata takes a stretched-curd shell and fills it with stracciatella — shreds of the same curd loosened in cream. The result behaves less like a cheese than a container of one: a good burrata is so thin-skinned and so full that it can split while being handled. The protected version is exacting about the filling, requiring the curd to be pulled apart by hand into hair-fine irregular strands rather than chopped, because mechanical processing collapses the texture into paste. It is arguably the most perishable cheese in commercial distribution. Puglian custom is to eat it within hours of the make, and although careful packing can stretch the window to a few weeks, the qualities worth having — clean sweet milk and a light salt finish — fade long before it actually spoils.

Aging Time

Eat fresh — up to 2 days

Style: Fresh
Milk: Cow
Origin: Italy · Puglia
Ripening: Fresh · eat within 2 days

Tasting Board

Texture

A thin, tender outer skin over a loose, spilling cream-and-curd centre.

Flavor

Sweet, lush milk with a light briny close.

Aroma

Cold fresh milk, with a grassy lift in the best examples.

History & Origins

Developed in the Andria area of Puglia around 1930, as a way of enclosing stretched-curd offcuts and cream inside a pouch of fresh curd rather than wasting them.

Cultural Significance

Now the standard upgrade from plain Mozzarella on restaurant menus, and one of the few fresh cheeses widely treated as a centrepiece rather than an ingredient.

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PGI — What the Designation Requires

The designation covers Burrata di Andria specifically, registered by Regulation (EU) 2016/2103 and entered in the EU register in November 2016. Every stage from raw material to finished product must take place in Puglia. The specification requires that the filling be shredded by hand into fine irregular threads; mechanical breaking that reduces it to a minced mass is prohibited, and this is the main technical line separating the PGI from generic burrata. Burrata produced outside the zone is entirely lawful but carries no protected designation.

Pairing & Serving

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What to Pair It With

Coarse bread for the spill, tomatoes, salumi, peppery olive oil, grilled vegetables.

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How to Serve It

Bring to room temperature, then open at the table so the centre spills onto the plate. Eat the day it is opened.

Nutrition (per 100g)

Calories	kcal
Protein	g
Total Fat	g
Saturated Fat	g
Sodium	mg
Calcium	mg

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