HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – June 4 marks National Cheese Day — a time to celebrate an ancient practice that dates back thousands of years.
A cheese maker in Honolulu calls the process both an art and science, and shares his passion at Bocconcino in Kakaako, which produces Hawaii’s first authentic, locally made mozzarella.
“A bocconcino is a a small bite, something like a morsel,” explains longtime Italian chef Donato Loperfido as he gives Hawaii News Now a tour of his cheese factory, cafe and market at 978 Kawaiaha‘o St.
“Even when we see a beautiful girl, we say that’s a nice bocconcino,” he says with a laugh.
Loperfido says he only uses fresh cow’s milk curds imported from Italy for his fresh cheese.
“I’m from Puglia. Puglia is the region where burrata was originated because the burrata came of an idea of a cheesemonger that had all of this cheese left over. They said, ‘what I’m gonna do?’ So they shredded it and when they made the fresh mozzarella, they put this stracciatella inside.”
Loperfido uses a special machine from Italy — which he lovingly calls Moana — to break up the curds and heat the mixture with steam from water processed through a professional filter that manages pH levels.
“This is almost $250 million, more than a Ferrari,” he says.
Think of it as the Ferrari of cheese making.
“Right now, it’s cooking the curd,” Loperfido said, as he explains the art and science of the process. “We’re gonna work this for a little bit until we reach the exact consistency and stretching level that we want in order to send it through the molding area.”
The machine works the cheese for 20 minutes or so — changing from crumbly clumps to watery dough to a soft and smooth mixture filled with butter fat.
Once ready, the cheese is poured into molds.
“It keeps it nice and warm until we want the perfect temperature in order to fill up the burrata,” Loperfido said.
Each burrata is made by hand, with a machine that fills each mozzarella pouch with four ounces of stracciatella cheese that’s been soaked overnight in heavy cream.
Loperfido says Moana makes about 120 burrata per batch.
The end result is a soft and creamy ball of perfection, best enjoyed with olive oil.
Any leftover cheese is hand pulled and shredded to make the stracciatella for the next batch.
“You need to eat this in the purest way possible. I’m from the land where this comes from,” said Loperfido, who takes cheese making seriously and has rules for eating fresh cheese. “Mozzarella and burrata should never have any pepper or balsamic vinegar.”
Loperfido says he makes 600-700 pounds of cheese a week — for his cafe and market and places like the Four Seasons and 53 by the Sea.
Bocconcino is open Wed-Sat 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. — offering freshly made pizzas, sandwiches, and coffees, and imported goods like meats, olive oils, wine and pastas.
A taste of Italy in Honolulu.
