"This is the original mozzarella, and it can only be made with buffalo milk," says Fading D Farm co-owner David DiLoreto. Along with his wife, Faythe DiLoreto, they've been operating their Italian Mediterranean Buffalo creamery since January 2016. Not to be confused with the American bison, their 64-acre Rowan County-based water buffalo farm is one of only a handful in North America.

Their love of traditional mozzarella began in 2011 after a family trip to their ancestral home in Italy. Upon their return to the States, they discovered that there were only five producers of the cheese in the country and none remotely close to North Carolina.