Pizza needs mozzarella, science says so!

The question is serious and much debated: what is the ideal cheese for a perfect pizza? Sherlock Holmes would answer: "mozzarella, elementary Watson!" and that would be the right answer! Yes, because it's not a gathering of pizzaiolos or an association of rabid mozzarella defenders who say it, it's science!

A study published by the Institute of Food Technologists in the Journal of Food Science, and coordinated by Bryony James of the University of Auckland, confirmed the theory that mozzarella is the only perfect cheese for a perfect pizza. Researchers analyzed the cooking performance of various cheeses such as Cheddar, Colby, Edam, Emmental, Gruyere and Provolone and many others, and the result of the research was that mozzarella is the ideal cheese for a hot, stringy, flavorful and perfectly crispy pizza. With other cheeses, the result was not the same.
Researchers from the Institute of Food Technologists used a machine that combines images with quantified analysis and studied the composition and consistency of various cheeses (including mozzarella) analyzing the cooking performance of pizza with each of them, to understand the differences for browning and cooking the cheese that must become stringy. They thus discovered that elasticity, oil content, humidity, water activity and transition temperature are all factors that influence the uniform color of cheeses. For example, bubbles do not form with Cheddar, Colby, and Edam because they are not very elastic, while the amount of oil present in Gruyere and Provolone allows for less intense browning, almost none with Emmental, because it stops the evaporation of moisture.

Therefore, researchers conclude, mozzarella is the best and can be combined with these cheeses to create a gourmet pizza, less browned in appearance, depending on taste.