I know this is an OOOOOLLLLD thread but I stumbled upon it the other day, and I was reading through it.
Then I saw this on Facebook:
For the record, that's "CDM" that's referenced many times in this post, and around 20 seconds in, you can see the Polly-O bag that they're pulling the curd from. So there we have it, 7 years later, it's confirmed for sure, CDM uses Polly-O! And so does everyone else who doesn't make it from milk directly. :-)
That being said, pretty much any restaurant or deli that gets deliveries through Food Service of some kind (Sysco, Lisanti Foods, etc) can get this stuff. If it's not available where you are, find an Italian deli or restaurant and go make some friends, they order it regularly, maybe they can order some for you. Even if they literally double the price of it, it's still well worth it -- in New Jersey it's readily available for around $3.50/lb. At $7.00/lb it would still be an incredible deal over ordering online with shipping, or even making your own from milk. Milk good enough to make cheese from usually nets out at more than $7.00/lb.
Personally I make it from Pasteurized (not Ultra) Cream-Top (non-homogenized) local milk, but I don't believe it makes it any better than doing it straight from the curd. I just can't readily get the curd in Southern California. I'd have to find a deli to special-order it for me, online options are literally around $75 for a single pound shipped overnight, which is why no one has it in stock -- because no one would order it with that kind of shipping in mind. Not to mention, I'd have to prepare to make fresh mozz a couple days ahead if I want to do it from curd.... As long as I think about it before 7PM I can walk into The Whole Wheatery (like a local version of Whole Foods or Trader Joes) and get the cream-top milk and have fresh mozz in about an hour.
Headed home to make a batch right now! Happy mozz-stretching!
