Bullish on Burrata

Burrata has shot up the charts with a bullet on the hit parade of trendy appetizers. It has achieved near ubiquity in a very short period of time owing to its rich taste, smooth texture and the fact that it plays well with other ingredients. According to market researcher newBrandAnalytics, it was the number three most buzzed-about starter last year, slotting in right after charcuterie and ceviche, which both confirms its appeal and puts it in some pretty fast company.

Native to the southern Italian regions of Puglia and Basilicata, burrata is fresh cow’s-milk cheese, a velvety blend of mozzarella and cream. Damn near irresistible, it’s been popping up everywhere. In Italy it’s an antipasto that starts the meal, which is how it made its initial appearance on bills of fare here. But the recent past has seen its crossover to other parts of the menu, too.

• It maintains a place of honor on the appetizer list, though many chefs are dressing it up a bit. At Domenica in New Orleans, it’s part of an Italo-Big Easy mash-up served with a buttermilk biscuit, roasted garlic and semolina fried oysters. At Perbacco in San Francisco, it appears in a summery mélange of marinated stone fruits, crispy cress and toasted almonds. And at Double Zero in Atlanta, it’s gussied up with confit tomato, scallion pesto and gremolata, a condiment made of chopped herbs, lemon and garlic that’s sort of a first cousin to chimichurri.
• Too good to serve only as an opening act, it also stars on pizza, like The Burrata Pie with wild arugula, hazelnut and caramelized onions at Pitfire Artisan Pizza, a small chain headquartered in Los Angeles. It’s also on the Fennel Bianco Pizza at Stella Barra’s locations in LA and Chicago, along with hand-shaved fennel, torn basil and fresh rosemary.
• Burrata is a natural on salads, as with the Lobster Heirloom Tomato Salad at San Francisco’s Bar Crudo, where it’s accompanied by English peas and topped with Banyuls vinaigrette. At Chicago’s Grace, it made the scene last winter in a deconstructed Caprese that also included heirloom tomatoes and Thai basil and was topped with an innovative tomato ice.
• Burrata has been breaking out on sandwich menus, too, like the Caprese Burger at red-hot Umami Burger, where it is accompanied by Portobello mushroom, basil-almond pesto, baby arugula and, once again, heirloom tomato. An equally creative construct, the Roasted Lamb Sandwich with Mint Pesto and Burrata Cheese (pictured) at Ford’s Filling Station in Culver City, CA comprises thinly sliced roasted lamb sirloin topped with eggplant and onion and garnished with mache and mint leaves.

When an item becomes so hot so fast, it can cool off equally quickly, but it’s easy to be bullish on burrata’s future. Its ready compatibility with a range of menu applications, inherent consumer friendliness and growing availability from both domestic manufacturers and importers suggest that it is well on its way to becoming a menu standard.

Photo by Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board and courtesy of Restaurant Hospitality magazine