Writing a few years ago in praise of Mozzarella, a food critic explained that its appeal lay in our experiences of infancy, specifically nursing and weaning.

The pleasure center of the brain is programmed to fire off as positive reinforcement when a baby takes certain actions necessary for life, of which the first is nursing.

Fatty, sweet, salty milk liquid is thus a primordial addiction, and mozzarella with its never-chilled sweet-fat-salt is arguably more similar to breast milk than skimmed, refrigerated cow’s milk is.

When weaning approaches, they added, the pleasure centre fires off anew to teach us that chewing and swallowing and solids are also good, and mozzarella’s soft, fleshy texture thus feeds that general solid food addiction too.

My primordial memories returned when presented with a platter of cheeses, eyes feasting on the quivering fresh ball facing you, and waiting to cut into the velvet, meaty milk-flesh of a real mozzarella,

The experience came courtesy of Salvi’s Mozzarella bar in Manchester’s Corn Exchange, the only independent eatery and family owned business within this plethora of food establishments and we were here to sample the Mozzarella as part of National Cheese Day.

There was no better place to sample this delight in Manchester.

For those used to the supermarket version, you will be in for a totally different experience, a fresher and much creamier using milk from their own buffaloes in Campania.

The milk has a limited production and gives a stronger, richer, more resonant flavour, making this mozzarella superior in texture and taste.

The cheese presented on a platter with olives, sundried tomatoes and drizzled with olive oil would it itself compromise a meal in itself.

Salvi’s use it in many of their dishes, infused into gnocchi served in a tomato sauce using San Marzano tomatoes from the slopes of Vesuvius or simply as we are used to on a pizza.

The owner Maurizio Cecco is a chef who trained in Sorrento before setting up Salvi’s Deli – the company has now grown to 5 sites with a sixth to be shortly announced for Manchester.Salvi’s was the first Neapolitan restaurant in Manchester with all  produce and ingredients 100% authentic and are all flown over from Italy.

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