EMILIA-ROMAGNA: Parmigiano Reggiano
One crisp September morning we stayed in a last-minute countryside guesthouse. About an hour south-west from Parma, the house was charmingly remote. There seemed to be quite frankly no one, just us - four foodie girls exploring the region and eating our way around gourmet haven such Parma and Reggio Emilia definitely are!
With the house all to ourselves, the owner kindly shared her homemade wine to accompany our aperitivo snacks, and a chunk of cheese. A true, local gem Parmigiano Reggiano which was literally from the neighbours. Our curiosity was immense and luckily the owner sensed it too. The following foggy morning we went on exploring the process of cheese making.
As wild as it may sound, Parmesan is something I explored just in my adulthood as it is miles away from traditional Slovak cuisine. It was love at first bite and given it is lactose free was another reason to love it!
The reason behind is that naturally occurring bacteria in the cow’s milk feeds on lactose during ageing process which in turn results in those tiny crunchy clusters in the final product. While parmesan is lactose-free only after 24 months of ageing, even less aged parmesan will offer reduced lactose content.
The whole process starts in very early morning when fresh milk is collected from mountains cows. These are kept in a herd in order to have control over what they feed on to produce the highest quality milk.
The milk is processed right away in the factory by being divided by specific volume into cobalt “pots” and heated to very precise temperatures. It is constantly supervised and mixed avoiding uneven curdling. There is an overwhelming amount of precise steps, temperatures, minutes, hours, day and months to follow but let’s not get too technical - I’m aiming to explain this process in its lightest version.
Once the milk reached desired consistency, it was hand-strained by massive cheese clothes and hang to reduce its liquid content.
After that, the cloths full of curdled milk are transferred into these sturdy casks to not only give the cheese its first shape but also to rid of further excess liquid by putting an extra weight lid on top.
When the time is right, each wheel is then transferred into special metal belts thanks to which parmesan cheese achieves its signature shape. It is also to make sure wheels are of identical size. At this stage, each wheel is also dated and assigned further details to track down the ageing process.
Once each and every wheel was checked and approved it is suitable for ageing, the belt is removed and wheels transferred into the ageing room. For those wondering about the ‘inedible’ hard crust on the edges, it is not an added wax. In fact, it is a naturally occurring process of aged cheese as it protects what this miracle wheel hold inside. It is just natural milk, rennet and salt over time. It also finally explains why all Italian are using cheese rinds in cooking!
Here the wheels can remain for anything from 12 months to 23 years (such was the case of the world’s longest-aged Parmigiano Reggiano) and undergo constant supervision. Cheese is regularly checked and turned to reassure even ageing and salt content as well as to catch any unusual signs of ageing.
Unfortunately, not all the wheels make it to the stores sold as certified Parmigiano Reggiano. Despite thorough process and strict controls, sometimes cheese does not age as it should. When “cheese people” sense (they are actually checking it by sound) that particular wheel is not maturing as it should, ths wheel is assigned above scoring - such scoring translates as lower quality of cheese not being the best due to ageing process which can vary. So this cheese will most likely be sold as grated or flaked for lower price.
Cheese can only be certified as Parmigiano Reggiano once it passed all the strict controls and has a track record of its ageing. There can be other parmesan cheese, but only parmesan of highest quality and control from the two Italian regions - Parma and Reggio Emilia - can be labelled as Parmigiano Reggiano.
If you wish to learn more, feel free to reach out here.