Why you should avoid “Parmesan” cheese? And what you should buy instead…

Parmesan is one of the most famous cheeses in the world and is an ubiquitous presence on the table of any Italian restaurant. What is less known is that anything labeled “Parmesan” is not in fact Parmesan. In fact the name “Parmesan” is no longer permitted to be used within the European Union. What was true Parmesan is now called Parmigiano-Reggiano and can only be made in the area spanning from Parma to Mantova under strict conditions regulated by the Parmigiano-Reggiano consortium. It is a product protected by the EU (PDO – Protected Designation of Origin).

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is rich in calcium (232 mg in 20 gms!), phosphorous and vitamins. It is also rich in protein (6.6 gms in 20 gms), low in cholesterol and is easily digestible.  Doctors in Italy often recommend it for children, the elderly, athletes and new mothers. In Italy it is served on its own, drizzled with traditional balsamic vinegar, as an accompaniment to vegetables, nuts or fruit or is shaved onto pastas, soups (or just the rind added while cooking for an extra depth of flavour), salads or main dishes.

Parmigiano-Reggiano was first produced by Benedectine monks in the 12th century in the area between the Po River and Apennine Mountains. It is distinct from cheeses produced even under similar methods (like Grana Padano) due to the feed of the cows, the quality of their milk, the skill of the artisan cheese makers, the long maturing time and the natural fermenting agents.

Today there are about 200 producers of Parmigiano-Reggiano ranging in size from producing 4 cheeses a day to 100 wheels a day. They are limited by the number of cauldrons (each cauldron can produce 2 cheeses and they are only issued enough official stamps for the number of wheels they can produce in one day).

We visited CPL Parma, a medium-sized dairy producing Parmigiano-Reggiano to see how it is made. The cheese is made once a day in the morning. It is made using milk from the Bianca Modenese cattle (white cows of Modena) who are fed only locally grown hay, grass and alfalfa. The cows are milked twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. The milk from the evening is brought into the dairy within two hours and placed in long stainless steel tables.

The windows are opened to give a bit of a breeze and during the night the milk fats float to the top. These are skimmed off and used to make butter. The remaining skimmed milk is mixed with the morning milk (again within 2 hours of milking), veal rennet (to coagulate the milk) and 20 litres of the previous day’s whey from making cheese (acts as a culture of natural lactic fermentation to expedite the process) in large cone-shaped copper-lined pots more than 2 meters deep. The pots hold 1,100 to 1,200 litres of milk which will become 2 wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano (it takes 16 litres of milk to make 1 kilo of cheese).

We watched 7 very serious men deftly working the milk to create cheese. They fill pots (which are hollow with copper on the inside and stainless steel on the outside) with the milk. Then the rennet coagulates the milk to create curds (“grana” in Italian which is where the name “Grana Padano” comes from). The curds are broken up with a huge balloon whisk (spino).  The hollow part of the pot fills with steam to heat the milk to 50-55C. Once all the curds have released their liquid, the heat is turned off and the curds sink to the bottom of the pot.

The curd is collected in large pieces of linen (traditionally hemp was used). The curd created weighs 100 kilos. Two very strong men hold opposite ends of the cloth while a third man cuts the curd mass in half to form two wheels of cheese. A second cloth is used to extract the second mass of curd.

These are tied to a wooden stick to drain off excess whey before being lifted, dipped in cold water to cool it and placed into a mould (fascera). The moulds are weighted down to further remove any liquid to inhibit bacteria. Almost the entire process of making the cheese is done by hand although some are beginning to mechanise the whisking, lifting the curd, salting and brushing the finished cheeses.

The cheese is taken to a room to rest for 2 to 3 days while the whey is used to feed pigs or is used as an ingredient in beauty products, pharmaceuticals and energy drinks.

After the cheese has rested, the cheese is transferred to a perforated metal mould lined with a brail-like stamp for another 2 to 3 days. The stamps are issued by the consortium and have the words “Parmigiano-Reggiano” in a repeating pattern. The stamp also identifies the number of the dairy which made the cheese and the date of production. The top is marked with a unique European Union-issued alphanumeric code which can be scanned to identify the cheese. A blank space is left where the cheese will be branded once it is 12 months old.

We entered a silent, dark room filled with long tubs. This is where the cheese is then soaked in a salt-water brine (using Mediterranean salt) for 20 days in order to salt the cheese to flavour and preserve it. The size of the wheels of cheese have increased over the past 100 years as with the larger size the cheese attains the correct texture and salinity.  The salt sits in a perforated tub, the water adjusting the salinity itself to ensure equilibrium. The cheese is turned every day using a stick.

Finally we walked into a huge warehouse which was filled with several solid walls 10 meters tall of cheese. This is where the cheese is matured for up to 24 months or more to develop texture and flavour. A robot was moving up and down the walls of cheese, removing a wheel, brushing it and placing it back. The cheese is continually brushed to keep it clean.

After 12 months, an expert cheese tester arrives, places the cheese on a heavy stool and knocks on the cheese with a mallet, listening intently for the correct uniformity of sound. Only once he has approved the cheese with a green marking can it become “Parmigiano-Reggiano” and be branded with the oval mark reading, “Parmigiano Reggiano Consorzio Tutela” with the year of production.

The cheeses are categorised by their age with “Parmigiano Reggiano Mezzano” indicating the cheese is young, not much more than 12 months old indicated by grooves around the circumference of the wheel. Imperfect Parmigiano-Reggiano are also marked with grooves and sold before 18 months at a discount.

More mature “Parmigiano Reggiano” can be inspected again at 18 or 24 months or more. If they meet the higher standard, they can be stamped with “Export” or “Extra”. The most prized is between 24 to 30 months when it is soft yet has pockets of crystals.

When purchasing Parmigiano-Reggiano in pieces or shaved, look for these guarantee marks below to ensure you are getting the real thing. There is also variability within certified Parmigiano-Reggiano. Markers of quality are a thin crust, visible grain in the cheese, uniformity of colour and the colour should not be too dark or orange. It can be stored in the refrigerator at 4C sealed in plastic for a few months.

So if you are in a shop and see cheese labelled, “Parmesan” this indicates it was made outside of Europe using an unknown process and without quality assurance. Cheese labelled Parmigiano-Reggiano with the guarantee marks indicates the cheese is from the vicinity of Parma, was made strictly adhering to the process described above with mandatory quality inspections to ensure its high quality. Which would you prefer to buy?

If you are visiting Emilia, I strongly suggest a tour of a Parmigiano-Reggiano producer one morning.

At the end of the summer, there are demonstrations of the traditional method of making Parmigiano-Reggiano over a wood fire in some towns.

To arrange a tour, contact the Consorzio:

Tel: +39 059 208630