Ever since Touch of Italy opened here in the Cape Region, I’ve written about their efforts to provide fresh, handmade mozzarella cheese to those who appreciate that sort of thing. Once mozzarella fans compare that creamy, just hours-old product to those little rubbery softballs available in most grocery stores, they definitely end up appreciating that sort of thing.

One of the auction prizes at our annual scholarship fundraising event is a day trip – in a limo - to the Bronx with Touch of Italy owner (and Bronx boy) Bob Ciprietti. Bob takes the lucky winners on a tour of his beloved Arthur Avenue (accompanied by incessant eating, of course), and one of the required stops is Casa Della Mozzarella near the corner of 187th Street and Arthur Avenue. Before Touch of Italy opened, Casa Della Mozzarella owner Orazio Carciotto generously passed his secrets on to Ciprietti and his mozzarella makers. And Touch of Italy’s fresh cheese is still made daily in Orazio’s inimitable style.