'Le Strade della Mozzarella', the Food Festival You Can't Miss

Cheese lovers of the world, you now have an excuse to visit Italy next spring. That's when the country will host Le Strade della Mozzarella, a food festival of enormous proportions dedicated exclusively to mozzarella di buffala.

Mozzarella made with buffalo milk is a specialty of the Campania region, located in the southern part of the country (and famously home to Naples). The best buffalo mozzarella receives the prestigious DOP designation, which guarantees the cheese was produced in its native region.

Le Strade della Mozzarella, which loosely translates to "the many streets of mozzarella,'' will be held May 12-14th, 2014 in the town of Paestum, located in the province of Salerno. The 7th annual festival is made possible with the special sponsorship of S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna and Fine Dining Lovers as media partner.

The theme of the culinary event is ''the exception to the rule," which will be brought to life in the cooking demos of celebrity chefs like Davide Scabin, Quique Dacosta and Enrico Crippa, among many others.

Le Strade della Mozzarella  promises to be a fun-filled event for foodies and will feature food and drink workshops including two dedicated exclusively to pizza and products bearing the Made in Italy label.

Here's the full program:

LE STRADE DELLA MOZZARELLA 2014

Monday, May 12th
Congress – Sala Goethe from 11.00 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.
11.00 Davide Scabin, Combal.Zero, Rivoli. Hosted by Fiammetta Fadda
11.50 Antonino Cannavacciuolo, Villa Crespi, Orta San Giulio. Hosted by Enzo Vizzari
12.40 Enrico Crippa, Piazza Duomo, Alba. Hosted by Fiammetta Fadda
1.30 Giancarlo Perbellini, Perbellini, Isola Rizza. Hosted by Paolo Marchi
2.20 Valeria Piccini, Da Caino, Montemerano. Hosted by Luigi Cremona
3.10/4.00 break
4.00 Mauro Uliassi, Uliassi, Senigallia
4.50 Enrico Bartolini, Devero, Cavenago di Brianza. Hosted by Enzo Vizzari
5.40 Emanuele Scarello, Agli Amici, Udine. Hosted by Fausto Arrighi
6.30 Anthony Genovese, Il Pagliaccio, Rome. Hosted by Guido Barendson

Taste Club (wine &food) from 11.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.
Workshop on Pasta,Mozzarella and Pummarola, in collaboration with Emergente
12.00 Alba Esteve, Marzapane, Rome
4.00 Marco Martini, Stazione di Posta, Rome
6.00 Vincenzo Candiano, Locanda Don Serafino, Ragusa Ibla

Workshop: Made in Italy
1.00 Peppe Stanzione, Le Trabe, Paestum
3.00 The world of cheese with Alberto Marcomini
5.00 Corrado Assenza, Caffè Sicilia, Noto

Workshop: Pizza
Two master pizza makers will display their tasty creations and explain the research, careful ingredient selection and thought process behind each pizza.

Tuesday, May 13th
Congress – Sala Goethe from 11.00 a.m. to 8.30 p.m.
11.00 Andrea Aprea, Vun, Milan. Hosted by Clara Barra.
11.50 Pino Cuttaia, La Madia, Licata. Hosted by Paolo Marchi
12.40 Christian e Manuel Costardi, Hotel Cinzia, Vercelli. Hosted by Enzo Vizzari
1.30 Nino Di Costanzo, Il Mosaico, Casamicciola Terme. Hosted by Luigi Cremona
2.20 Alessandro Negrini, Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia, Milan. Hosted by Paolo Marchi
3.10/16.00 break
4.00 Moreno Cedroni, Madonnina del Pescatore, Senigallia. Hosted by Fiammetta Fadda
4.50 Niko Romito, Reale Casadonna, Castel di Sangro. Hosted by Fausto Arrighi
5.40 Nicola e Luigi Portinari, La Peca, Lonigo. Hosted by Davide Paolini
6.30 Michele Deleo, Rossellinis, Ravello. Hosted by Enzo Vizzari
7.20 Ilario Vinciguerra, Ilario Vinciguerra Restaurant, Gallarate. Hosted by Fiammetta Fadda

Taste Club (wine &food) from 11.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.
Workshop: Pasta, Mozzarella and Pummarola, in collaboration with Emergente
12.00 Diego Rigotti, Maso Franch, Giovo
4.00 Felice Sgarra, Umami, Andria

Workshop: Made in Italy
1.00 Angelo Sabatelli, Angelo Sabatelli ristorante, Monopoli
5.00 Simone Bonini, Carapina, Florence

Workshop: Pizza
Two master pizza makers will display their tasty creations and explain the research, careful ingredient selection and thought process behind each pizza.

Wednesday, May 14th
Congress – Sala Goethe from 11.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.
11.00 Italian-style breakfast. Hosted by Teresa Cremona
12.00 Pizza, its technical aspects and how to pair it with bufalo mozzarella. Four master pizza makers present their ideas for using buffalo mozzarella and pairing it with other ingredients. Hosted by Luciano Pignataro, who will also address the ''bistronomie'' of buffalo mozzarella
2.00 Simone Tondo, Roseval. Hosted by Andrea Petrini
International cooking with buffalo mozzarella.
3.00 Quique Dacosta, Quique Dacosta Restaurante, Denia-Alicante. Hosted by Enzo Vizzari
4.00 Josean Martinez Alija, Guggenheim, Bilbao.
5.00 Jean-Francois Piege, Thoumieux, Paris. Hosted by Enzo Vizzari
6.00 to be defined
To San Sebastian Gastronomica 2014
7.00 Gennaro Esposito, Torre del Saracino, Vico Equense. Hosted by Luciana Bianchi and Eleonora Cozzella

Taste Club (wine &food) dalle 11.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.
Workshop: Pasta Mozzarella and Pummarola, in collaboration with Emergente
12.00 Luca Abbruzzino, Antonio Abbruzzino, Catanzaro
4.00 Giuseppe Iannotti, Kresios, Telese Terme
Guest: Alfonso Caputo, Taverna del Capitano, Massa Lubrense

Workshop: Made in Italy
1.00 Luciano Monosilio, Pipero al Rex, Rome
3.00 The terroir of buffalo mozzarella by ONAF
5.00 Enzo Crivella, Crivella Gelati & Dessert, Sapri

Workshop: Pizza
Two master pizza makers will display their tasty creations and explain the research, careful ingredient selection and thought process behind each pizza.