Monday, October 18, 2010

A Whole Lotta Burrata

Tomato and burrata salad from Herbsaint.

Trends are everywhere around us, especially in the food world. Whether it's a distributor pushing a particular wine, bartenders wearing fedoras, or short ribs showing up on nearly every menu, the food and beverage industry is not exempt from the "herd mentality" which our high school disciplinarian so often preached against.

Right now, burrata cheese is all the rage around town. According to Wikipedia, burrata is basically a thick skinned, hollowed ball of mozzarella that is filled with scraps of mozzarella curd and topped with heavy cream. It's a fresh cheese that is usually eaten within days (or hours) of being made. When you cut open a ball of burrata, the interior flows out in a silky, creamy, buttery rich white lava. The texture is soft with only hint of the chewiness of its cousin mozzarella. The flavor is, in a word, delicious.

Traditionally, burrata "season" is in the summer months, but a few local chefs have decided that this cheese is worthy of being served into the fall. No complaints from me. At Domenica, Chef Alon Shaya incorporates burrata into a panzanella salad with sweet tomatoes, peppery arugula, and toasted bread. Chef Donald Link serves this fresh cheese as a small plate with tomatoes at Cochon Butcher and as an appetizer with roasted eggplant and peppers at Herbsaint. Uptown at the newly opened Bouligny Tavern, burrata is featured on bruschetta sprinkled with fleur de sel, a grind of cracked pepper, and drizzled with truffle oil.

Anywhere else around town that I missed? Who else loves burrata?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

a Mano has a Caprese salad with a few good-size blobs of burrata. Delicious.

cmt said...

Hakuna burrata

Rene said...

Couple months ago, St. James had a roast pork sandwich with burrata, a sort of curry mayo, cherry tomatoes, and arugula. It was in a word thebomb.com/yourmom

Susan said...

We had burrata crostini at Coquette that was delish. I think they have a similar version at Bouligny Tavern.