Imagine making a cheesy pouch out of fresh mozzarella, then filling it with cream and mozzarella strands. That’s “Burrata“.
“Burro” means “butter”, so it gives you an idea of the fatty, smooth deliciousness of this cheese! Burrata is a fist-sized, creamy cheese ball, and for those that don’t dare indulge themselves with a whole burrata, they can go for a burratina, a smaller, half-fist-sized ball of coat-your-mouth-with-decadence cheese.
I made a plate-sized salad by which to deliver the burrata to my mouth: a bed of arugula, fresh green figs from the street market yesterday morning, sicilian cherry tomatoes, burrata in the middle, a fresh grind of pepper, and everything drizzled with balsamic glaze and olive oil.
(Click on the the photo to see the full, plate-sized view.)
Here’s Wikipedia’s discussion of Burrata:
Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese, made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella while the inside contains both mozzarella and cream, giving it an unusual, soft texture. It is also defined by some sources as an outer shell of mozzarella filled with butter or a mixture of butter and sugar. It is usually served fresh, at room temperature. The name “burrata” means “buttered” in Italian.