Mozzarella sticks

"Cheese sticks" redirects here. For the individually packaged lunch or snack item, see string cheese. For the Filipino appetizer, see lumpiang keso.

Mozzarella sticks are elongated pieces of battered or breaded mozzarella, usually served as hors d'oeuvre.

Mozzarella sticks

Mozzarella sticks and marinara sauce
Alternative names	Hot Cheese Sticks
Course	Hors d'oeuvre
Associated cuisine	Italian-American
Serving temperature	Hot
Main ingredients	Mozzarella, batter or breading
Media: Mozzarella sticks

Origins

Further information: Fried cheese

The history of frying cheese in a batter dates back to at least 1393 in medieval France, when a recipe for fried cheese sticks appeared in Le Ménagier de Paris.^[1] However, food historians believe that medieval French fried cheeses had little in common with the preparation and development of modern mozzarella sticks.^[2]

Mozzarella sticks most likely have their origins in the United States during the 1970s, through a combination of two factors, as per historian Joel Jensen: "the increasing availability of mass-produced mozzarella cheese beginning in the 1960s", and the development of new efficient frying technologies to be used in fast-paced food-serving businesses (such as bowling alleys and sports bars).^[3]

Preparation

Mozzarella sticks are prepared by coating cheese strings in breadcrumbs or batter. They may be baked or fried in oil. Mozzarella sticks are often served with tomato sauce or marinara sauce. However, they may be served with other dipping sauces such as plum sauce, jalapeño jelly, ketchup, barbecue sauce, honey mustard sauce, and ranch dressing. Restaurants often serve fried mozzarella sticks with a marinara sauce.^[4]

Variations

Popular fried cheeses other than mozzarella include provolone, Edam, cheddar, and American. Mozzarella sticks with raspberry sauce are part of the regional cuisine of New York's Capital District.^[5]

In many public schools throughout the United States, Bosco pizza sticks filled with mozzarella have become a popular staple.^[6]

See also

• Lumpiang keso
• Sorullos
• Tequeños

References

1. Friedman, David. "Le Menagier de Paris (Translated by Janet Hinson)". Retrieved 13 November 2015. PIPEFARCES. Take egg yolks and flour and salt, and a little wine, and beat together strongly, and cheese chopped in thin slices, and then roll the slices of cheese in the batter, and then fry in an iron skillet with oil in it. This can also be made using beef marrow.
2. "The Mozzarella Stick's Origins Are Actually Fiercely Debated". Thrillist. February 2017. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
3. Claeson, Hanna (August 2020). "The Surprising Origin Of Mozzarella Sticks". Mashed. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
4. "What do You Eat with Mozzarella Sticks". Cooking! Know Everything. 8 February 2022.
5. "New York State food regions map". All Over Albany. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
6. "How Bosco Sticks Became the Secret Weapon of Midwestern Cafeterias". 16 July 2015.