In Italian cookery, bocconcini are small balls of what type of cheese?

Bocconcini are small mozzarella cheeses the size of an egg. Like other mozzarellas, they are semi-soft, white and rindless unripened mild cheeses which originated in Naples and were once made only from milk of water buffalo. Nowadays they are usually made from a combination of water buffalo and cow's milk. Bocconcini are packaged in whey or water, have a spongy texture and absorb flavours.

This cheese is described by its Italian name which means small mouthfuls. It is made in the pasta filata manner by dipping curds into hot whey, and kneading, pulling and stretching. Each cheese is about the size, shape and colour of a hardboiled egg: indeed an alternative name used is Uova di bufala, or “Buffalo eggs”. Baby ("bambini") bocconcini can also be purchased; these are a smaller version about the size of large grapes.

Bocconcini of water buffalo’s milk are still produced in the provinces of Naples, Caserta and Salerno, as bocconcini alla panna di bufala, in a process which involves mixing freshly made Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP with fresh cream.