Etymology
Mozzarella—which is derived from the Neapolitan dialect spoken in Campania—is the diminutive form of mozza ('"cut"), or mozzare ("to cut off") derived from the method of working. Scamorza cheese is a close relative, which probably derives from scamozzata ("without a shirt"), with allusion to the fact that these cheeses have no hard surface covering typical of a dry cured cheese. In Italian, and in the English use of the word mozzarella, the vowel at the end of mozzarella is pronounced, despite some people incorrectly dropping the vowel, erroneously rendering the word "mozzarell".
The term mozzarella is first found definitively mentioned in 1570, cited in a cookbook by Bartolomeo Scappi, reading "milk cream, fresh butter, ricotta cheese, fresh mozzarella and milk".
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