Cheesy does it: A worker at the farm hand rolls the mozzarella balls while buffalo massage their backs against giant brushes - all designed to relax them and improve the taste of their milkA hot snort of acknowledgment preceded an eyeballing that suggested this buffalo had seen my type before. With a swift lash of a tar-black tail and a dip of horns, my new acquaintance turned on its hooves and got back to massaging its rear on a big yellow brush.
Mozzarella - that famous milky cheese that pools on our pizzas - is to Italy's lesser known Cilento region what pesto is to Genoa or chianti is to Tuscany and right now, I'm taking the equivalent of a vineyard tour. Except there are no heady whiffs of grapes fermenting, just the toe-curling aroma of buffalo dung.
Vannulo, which claims to be Italy's only organic mozzarella farm, is a surprisingly informative place to spend a morning.
These intimidating beasts offer a living history lesson on the local area; they dominated this landscape when it was too waterlogged for humans to negotiate.
When German author Wolfgang Goethe travelled through Cilento in 1787 he talked of 'flooded places where we looked into the blood-red savage eyes of buffaloes'.
The eyes are still wild but instead of roaming swamps, they now bolster the economy.
The Vannulo farm is a modern, high-tech incarnation of a centuries-old industry - each buffalo is chipped and the milking equipment recognises them individually.
Advances haven't touched every part of the process though, the mozzarella is still plied into perfect spheres by hand, and the remaining whey drained to make ricotta.
At the front of Italy's ankle in the Campania region, Cilento is a jutting nugget of coastline that dovetails caves and coves with mountains and ancient sites that date back to 7th century BC.
You have to be prepared to bypass the country's most popular stretch of coastline to get here though. Driving south from Naples on Italy's A3, signs pointing you to the dazzling, ever-photogenic Amalfi Coast rear up relentlessly and I wondered if ignoring them was something tourists didn't do for a reason.
Shortly after passing Salerno, the pretty hilltop towns gave way to a landscape that can only be described as scenic ennui; generic-looking towns interspersed
Who needs Amalfi? Jo soaks up the view from lofty Castellabate, the crumbling, medieval town that overlooks the Cilento coastlineThen, two hours after we'd left the airport at Naples, the sight of Santa Maria di Castellabate filled the windscreen.
A town that feels more like a roomy village gathered around two or three half-crescent bays, it was basking in early evening sunlight when we arrived. Hovering 300metres above it was the lofty medieval town of Castellabate and beyond it the lapping blue waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
We quickly joined the passeggiata – that oh-so-civilised period of the Italian day that is assigned entirely to strolling – and enjoyed an aperitivo watching teenagers tear after a football on a pitch scribed out of sand.
Although holidaymakers are a common sight in Santa Maria di Castellabate, tourism doesn't dictate life here. First and foremost, this is a working town and, like ricotta, visitors and the money they bring are little more than a useful byproduct.
As a result, prices aren't hiked up. Even with the pound gasping for breath against the euro we found it inexpensive. A bottle of Peroni may see you stumping up 6 euros in Sorrento, here it'll buy you a whole, wood-fired pizza, and a delicious one at that.
The old town, known as Isca delle Chitarre, has just enough restaurants to entertain visitors for a week or two and the food is delicious, unfussy Neapolitan fare.
Humble gnocchi dishes, uneven margherita pizza topped with discs of mozzarella, ciabatta drenched in extra virgin olive oil, soft figs and ice cream in fanciful flavours are all culinary staples in these parts.
Should you fancy a change, a few more restaurants lie up on high in Castellabate, which can be reached by bus, car or - if your legs can take the steep, spiralling road - on foot.
Less a holiday resort and more of a working village, Santa Maria di Castellabate remains off the tourist map and reasonably pricedWhen tourists do visit, many of them stay at Palazzo Belmonte, Santa Maria di Castellabate's very own palace. Dating back to the 17th century, it is the inherited property of Prince Angelo di Belmonte and centres around a beautiful courtyard. Now a hotel with self-catering rooms, it is a regal place to stay with a lush, colourful garden, a child-friendly pool area and access to the town's blue flag beach easily gained when you nudge a mysterious-looking wooden door in the palace's walls.
The prince, now in his seventies, is a personable chap and at ease with the company of guests. Indeed, further down the coast, plans are afoot to open up another Belmonte property to tourists.
Ancient treasure: The Temple of Poseidon in Paestum lies within an hour's drive of Santa Maria di Castellabate. 
Fit for a prince: the grandiose Palazzo Belmonte offers regal accommodation from 141 euros a night in low season. Right, Jo tucks into mozzarella fresh from the farmFrom Santa Maria di Castellabate, there are plenty of day trips including, if you don't mind some time spent in the car, the Amalfi Coast.
Mid-week we hurtled back up the A3 to spend a morning marvelling at Pompeii before taking a meandering return journey via the hairpin bends that connect Sorrento, Positano and Ravello. It is a road well travelled and needs little explanation here except to say that it is a route full of drama and beauty, whether you're behind the wheel or a passenger.
For a less taxing drive, head to Paestum, where the impressive ruins of a Graeco-Roman city can be seen. The subject of many raids by Saracens, this 7th century metropolis eventually fell not to soldiers but to mosquitoes as malaria forced its residents out.
Paestum remained deserted and hidden in thick undergrowth until the 18th century when the weeds were hacked away and it was established as a historical site. It is a region teeming with literary ghosts. Alongside Goethe's swamp exploration, Shelley wandered among Paestum's ruins for inspiration, concluding they were 'Inexpressibly grand'.
And the fishing hamlet of Acciaroli, 20km south of Santa Maria di Castellabate was said to have played host to Ernest Hemingway. The adventurous writer spent time here in 1952 after he'd finished penning The Old Man and the Sea.
Back at Vannulo, it was tasting time. Just moments after it'd been gently kneaded into shape by the farm's small army of mozzarella men, I forked through cheese so fresh it was almost moo-ing.
With bite on the outside and a melting middle, it was a million miles away from the veritable squash balls that are served up on the shelves of UK supermarkets.
The unfriendly stare I'd been on the receiving end of earlier in the tour was forgotten. Suddenly, I wanted to shake my new friend by the hoof and congratulate him on the finest mozzarella I'd ever tasted.
Travel factsCV Travel (020 7401 1039, www.cvtravel.co.uk) offers accommodation in rooms and suites at the Palazzo Belmonte. A week's stay costs from £504 per person, including one night free, based on two sharing and including b&b accommodation. Flights and car hire can also be arranged by CV Travel.
For more information on visiting the mozzarella farm at Vannulo, visit www.vannulo.it
source: dailymail
