Italian Buffalos????

One of the most difficult parts of discussing the Water Buffalo with citizens of North America ......or any non-Asian fan of the American cowboy or jungle adventure movie .....is to identify the correct animal. There are many closly related groups within the Order Artiodactyla or even toed animals.
The American Bison ...or American Western Buffalo is not a true buffalo but its own Genus . They are closer to cattle (Bos) than to the water buffalo and will interbreed with cattle.

The buffalo, Bison bison, is the largest mammal on the North American continent. This magnificent creature, which is a member of the Bovidae, or cow family, was given its name by the early French explorers who called them "Ies boeufs," meaning oxen. Throughout the years, the name went through several changes from "buffle" to "buffelo" and finally to its present "buffalo." Bison is the correct scientific and common name, but buffalo has been used and accepted for many years.

The bison has often been described as the most ferocious animal in North America. This description is no doubt a result of its great size. Full-grown bulls weigh up to 2,000 pounds and stand six feet or more at the shoulder. Their massive heads, which are matted with a thick covering of wiry hair, hold a set of horns that are never shed. The shoulders carry a huge hump that gives the bison its characteristic top-heavy look, the hips being much smaller in relation to the rest of the body. A bison cow is similar in appearance to the bull, but is smaller in size, weighing up to 1100 pounds and reaching a height of four to five-and-a-half feet at the shoulder.

Up to here this is fairly standard cheese making practice - here comes the interesting part.

The small cubes of curd are placed in very hot water, almost boiling in fact, at 90 °C (194 °F). The now softened and melting curds are lifted out of the hot water and swung around by hand, which stretches the cheese so as to create strands in its structure. The cheese is then formed into its distinctive shape of a large sphere topped with a smaller one, then immersed in brine to cool and set. The cheese is now finished - perfection has been achieved. This heating and stretching of the curds is the reason behind mozzarella's trademark stringy texture when melted.