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Mozzarella wrapped in myrtle

Slow Food Presidium · PAT · Cheeses · Campania

Apulica editorial team · Sources checked:

In brief

History and origin

In dialect it is called muzzarella co' a mortedda, or int'a murtedda, and it is a cheese from the central Cilento, within the Cilento National Park. The name comes from a custom: the mozzarellas were packed in layers alternating with freshly picked sprigs of mortella, the local name for myrtle.

In the past there were no fridges or wrappings, and the cheese was made near the pastures, far from the villages where it was sold. A covering was needed to protect it on the way. Myrtle, evergreen and growing wild in the Cilento's grazing land, had smooth, non-porous leaves, perfect for wrapping a fresh cheese, and it also gave it a distinctive aroma.

The cheese was therefore sold in «bunches», tied at the ends with the thin, flexible stems of broom. Over time mozzarella nella mortella became a type of its own among southern stretched-curd cheeses; today it is a traditional product of Campania and a Slow Food Presidium.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Mozzarella nella mortella · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Mozzarella nella Mortella (prodotto tradizionale) · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026)

Area and method of production

Despite its name, it is a very fresh caciocavallo, because the technique is the same. Raw cow's milk, from one or two milkings, is brought to 36-38 degrees and curdled, sometimes with a little natural whey starter. The curd is broken into grains the size of a maize kernel and pressed together to release the whey.

The mass matures and acidifies for 12-24 hours, depending on the season, with almost no whey: according to the Region, this gives the cheese a compact, dry texture and a thicker outer skin. It is then cut into strips about a centimetre wide and stretched in boiling water, lifted and pulled with a stick.

Once stretched, a small ball is shaped by hand, then lengthened and thinned into the typical tongue shape. Finally the tongues are wrapped in sprigs of myrtle. It is made all year round.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Mozzarella nella mortella · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Mozzarella nella Mortella (prodotto tradizionale)

How to recognise it

Mozzarella nella mortella is long and more or less flat, tongue-shaped. The paste is white leaning to straw yellow, compact and without holes. On the palate there are notes of milk, grass and the aromatic touch of myrtle, which the cheese takes from the leaves.

It can also be recognised by its look: once unwrapped from the myrtle it keeps the imprint of the leaves and twigs on its surface. A bunch of about 100 grams traditionally held ten small tongues; the regional sheet speaks of bunches of 6-10 mozzarellas.

It is a fresh cheese and should be eaten within five days.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Mozzarella nella mortella · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Mozzarella nella Mortella (prodotto tradizionale)

In the kitchen

It is not used like an ordinary mozzarella: it is not suited as an ingredient for pizza or calzone, because it is too aromatic and too precious. It is rather a table cheese.

Slow Food recommends it as a starter, served with olives, tomatoes and vegetables preserved in oil, dressed with extra virgin olive oil and perhaps a pinch of oregano. It is unwrapped from the myrtle just before serving, so that it keeps its scent to the last, and simply enjoyed as it is, alongside the flavours of the vegetable garden and Cilento olive oil.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Mozzarella nella mortella

Where to taste it

The traditional production area covers a few towns in the Cilento, in the province of Salerno, within the Cilento National Park. Here myrtle grows wild in the pastures, and the cheese is still made with raw cow's milk.

Since it keeps for only a few days, the best way to taste it is to look for it in the villages where it is made, during a trip to the Cilento. It is available all year, so it can go with a summer seaside holiday as well as a tour of the inland villages in spring or autumn.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Mozzarella nella mortella · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Mozzarella nella Mortella (prodotto tradizionale)

Protection

When

Where

Campania