Now I’m about to tell you that not only ready-made dishes can be smoked, but also cheese. Mozzarella, for example.
Smoked mozzarella only sounds unusual. But you are not going just to listen to it, are you? Because it tastes truly bellissima! People from this smoked cheese’s homeland, colourful Italy, would call it exactly like that. Soft cheese with smoked hints and tanned sides perfectly tastes with fresh greens, juicy tomatoes and rich spices, it also goes well with pizza and on its own. Surely, cheese recipe depends on a region, culinary traditions and the original mozzarella taste, also important role is assigned to…sawdust!
Haven’t expected that? Me too, when I decided to smoke mozzarella for the first time under the eagle eye of chef Alexei Shvets. What to say, you’ll definitely need good-quality cheese and a handheld food smoker.
- You really have to use high-quality mozzarella to get tasty and full-flavoured smoked cheese.
- Put it to a small bowl and tightly wrap it with plastic foil.
- Chefs call this process plasticization.
- Make a small hole and insert the Smoking Gun tube into it.
- Secret No.1.
- I also apply some tape to fix it accurately.
- Put the apple sawing to the gun (I’ve promised there will be some weapon involved).
- Fill it by half, but if you want more intense taste, fill it twice by half.
- Then, switch on, set on fire and smoke.
- Be aware, lords of the fire. When all the sawdust burnt out, turn the magic gun off.
- Secret No.2.
- Leave it for 10 minutes.
- Season with black pepper, olive oil, and if you wish put some aged balsamic vinegar.
- Bon appetit to you, my friends!
The dish in the photograph was cooked by the restaurant for this story. Photo: Oleksandr Slyadnyev.