My memory of the first encounter that I had with parmesan cheese is still very clear. It was a Thursday, and it came pre-grated in a green cardboard cylinder. It stayed in the fridge for a long time until the day mom decided to make spaghetti and opened it. Come on, admit it. The first time you met parmesan cheese involved spaghetti as well. But America and I are no longer kids. Gourmet shops are no longer exclusive to the big cities and Italian restaurants now serve regional menus instead of pure classics. And since we are used to tasting a lot of things and making choices, perhaps it is time that we get to know Parmigiano Reggiano a little more; the cheese that is years away from being the parmesan that we know.
Parmigiano Reggiano is partly skimmed and is made from unpasteurized cow’s milk, making it medium-fat. Initially, it was made in a zone limited to the provinces of Parma, Reggio-Emilia and Modena, and other parts of the provinces of Mantua and Bolognia in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. The Parmigiano Reggiano is naturally prepared, and no chemical preservatives or artificial additives are used. The Parmigiano Reggiano is a living product capable of maturing and evolving in flavor, just like any fine wine.
You can have the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese on its own. Just break off a small chunk off the brick, and you are ready to serve. Everyone loves the taste of this cheese, and you can even pair it with a long list of other flavors that will highlight its sweetness.
This cheese is a staple for every Italian athlete’s diet, because it has protein, calcium and phosphorous, and it contains other vitamins and minerals such as B12, copper and zinc. But the main attraction of this cheese is its traditional opening, called “cracking.
If you have not seen a Parmigiano Reggiano cut open or if you are wondering how the cutters were able to get through such craggy and ragged wedges, well do not be surprised if I tell you that those wedges are there for a reason. Some people consider breaking into a 24-month old wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano like “cracking open happiness”. Why? Because traditionally, opening the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese wheel makes use of a set of official tools five different types of knives in order to make sure that the internal crystalline structure and crumbly texture is preserved and left intact.
Carefully crafted by artisans, each wheel of the Parmigiano Reggiano is an expression of the cheese maker’s sensibilities and sound judgment the maker decides every stage of production with his fingertips. That makes the Parmigiano Reggiano more than just a pasta ingredient, but a product of an intimate process. So don’t stop grating. Try the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese today!
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