Yes, we went to the Vannulo buffalo farm today...the water buffalo here in Italy were originally from India, and now are raised to produce that wonderful mozzarella di bufala...they also use the milk for ricotta, pudding (budino), yogurt, butter,other cheeses, and gelato (ice cream)...it is all SO creamy !
They only sell their products on site...in fact, the last Pope wanted them to regularly ship mozzarella to him, but they refused - rumor has it that is why he quit....
There are 300 females (bufala), and 6 males (bufalo)...some happy guys, right ? The operation at the farm is all organic and absolutely amazing. The bufala feed when they want, and they walk themselves into a milking machine when they feel the urge...the machine has a small camera mounted to the bottom so it can detect the placement of the milking apparatus...pretty neat, huh? You should have seen those bufala lined up awaiting their turn to be milked...all very calm and relaxed. Of course when they are not eating or being milked or sleeping, or listening to piped in music, they can walk up to a machine that looks like a small carwash where they are massaged...you can almost see them smile !
There is also a leather shop on the premises with the most beautiful purses I've ever seen (and very expensive...). The female baby buffaloes are kept to produce milk, and the males are sold for meat and their pelts (sorry guys, but women rule....)
The tour was all in Italian, which was fine, but the funny part was that we were included in a group with a school bus full of kids from Naples...what a riot ! They ignored us at first, but when one boy (who was autisitc and not afraid of us) started practicing his English on us, the entire group gathered around us and asked questions..."where are you from", "what is your name", "how old are you"...all the beginning things you learn when studying a new language...we were mobbed, and treated like celebrities when we said we were from New York...every one of them wants to go to the "Big Apple" someday...little do they know that it's alot like Naples in many ways !
After the kids broke the ice, the teachers even came up to speak to us...it was a fantastic experience, and made the farm visit even more fun than we had expected.
Pics, as always, will be on Facebook...
Hugs, also as always, Chris and her "I want to be one of the lucky 6" husband
Note: their website is: www.vannulo.it if you're interested
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