Paula Lambert: The Mozzarella Company

Italy has always been a great inspiration to Paula Lambert, owner and founder of Dallas-based Mozzarella Company, an award-winning specialty cheese company that sells its handcrafted cheeses around the world. It was a stint in Italy after college—where she went to learn Italian and study art history—that inspired Lambert to start her business in 1982. “When I returned home after living in Italy, the thing I missed most was fresh mozzarella, and no one even knew what it was. So, I decided to build a cheese factory and make mozzarella in Dallas,” she explains.

Lambert first learned how to make handcrafted mozzarella from Mauro Brufani, who owned a cheese factory near Perugia. She knew that to bring the cheese to America, it would have to be as close to authentic Italian mozzarella as possible. 

Today, Mozzarella Company makes about 200,000 pounds of cheese a year, including fresh and aged cheeses made from both cow’s milk and goat’s milk. Many are inspired by Lambert’s travels in Italy, Mexico and Greece while others are reflections of the most recent culinary trends. “Each and every single cheese is totally and completely made by hand,” she adds. Also an award-winning cookbook author of The Cheese Lover’s Cookbook and Cheese, Glorious Cheese, Lambert continues to get inspiration for her cheese from traveling, as well as teaching cooking classes in the States and abroad.

Here's more from Lambert

Do you return to Italy often?

I love to return to Italy, and in fact, I was just there this winter. I still see friends from my earlier years, and I love everything about Italy, especially the way Italians cook. However, for the past ten years, I have spent much more time in France. I take small groups to the Dordogne region of France at least twice a year for a cooking school that I conduct at La Combe en Perigord. I have now fallen in love with France and the foods there … I find there is great similarity between the foods of France and Italy, as both cuisines focus on fresh, seasonal and locally produced foods.

What do you wish you had known before you started your business?

I wish I had known how much work it would be. I had no idea. I had never really had a job before, other than teaching first grade when I first graduated from college. However, I have loved every moment. Certainly there have been many challenges, but I have had the most wonderful time being part of the “food world.”

What do you like most about making cheese for a living?

I love being able to take cheese home from the Mozzarella Company whenever I like! And I love tasting and learning about all the fabulous cheeses that exist around the world. And best of all are all the fabulous people I have met.

Do you have a favorite cheese you make?

It’s hard to say which is my favorite. The cheeses we make are like my children! But, I think I would have to say that the fresh, subtle little cheeses are my favorites: Fresh mozzarella, ricotta, goat cheese, curds ‘n cream, crescenza.

If someone could shadow you for one day at your job, what would surprise that person most?

How many different cheese-related projects there are to tackle during the day. From meetings with the office staff and cheesemakers, to working on the website, to doing the accounting, to creating new cheeses, to answering the telephone and taking orders, to waiting on customers who come to our little retail store, to making a delivery, to writing the monthly newsletters, to creating recipes, to teaching cooking classes, to dining at the wonderful restaurants of our customers …my whole life revolves around our cheese.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a teacher, and I was. I taught first grade for a few years before I went to live in Italy. Once I came back to the U.S., I became a community volunteer. And it was in those various jobs as a volunteer that I learned the skills necessary to found a small business.

Aside from your products, what three food items can you always find in your kitchen?

I always have extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic and a wonderful blend of black, pink, green and white peppercorns laced with allspice that I buy at a little market in France.—Denise Shoukas

Denise Shoukas is a regular foodspring.com contributor and is the author of foodspring’s food forager blog.