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Parmigiano Reggiano
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Description
Name: Parmigiano Reggiano.
Product type: Hard grain semi-fat cheese; straw yellow in colour with a characteristic grainy texture.
Raw material: Raw milk, i.e. milk which has not been subjected to previous heat treatments or chemical processes .
Maturing: From less than 1 year to 3 years.
Production areas: Provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena; certain areas in the provinces of Bologna and Mantua.
Denomination: Protected designation since 1954 and guaranteed origin since 1955. |
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FROM THE VIA EMILIA TO THE WEST |
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It is probably Italy's most world-famous DOP (Denominazione d'Origine Protetta - Protected Designation of Origin) cheese and the numerous attempts to imitate it are no coincidence. It is made from cow's milk, rennet of animal origin and salt, with no subsequent disinfecting treatments or chemical additives.
It is therefore easy to understand just how important the quality of the dairy milk used to make this cheese is. The milk comes from animals who throughout their entire lives feed mainly on hay and other raw materials explicitly authorized by the Consortium for the Protection of Parmigiano Reggiano. In this regard it is a cheese with unique characteristics: it takes 16 litres of choice milk to make one kilo of finished product.
The production technique used by the dairies in the area of production (the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and Mantua to the right of the river Po and Bologna to the left of the river Reno) has remained unchanged compared to the past, but has been enhanced by modern hygiene and health standards.
The production process begins with the morning's milk being added to the evening's milk (the latter being skimmed beforehand after the cream has risen to the surface), in special conical copper cauldrons which are heated. Whey is then added, made from a starter culture of milk bacteria obtained naturally from the remainder of the whey from the cheese-making process of the day before, whilst only calf rennet is used for coagulation purposes. The curd is removed manually from the copper cauldron and then placed in the special moulds which give Parmigiano Reggiano its definitive shape. The young cheese is then brine bathed in vats and left to mature in temperature- and humidity-controlled ageing rooms.
The cheese is said to be "ripe" if it has been left to mature for 12 to 18 months, "old" or vecchio if left for 18 to 24 months and "very old" or stravecchio when it has at least two summers behind it. It is even possible to find 4-5-year-old cheeses: these are connoisseur products, their flavour being very different to the Parmigiano Reggiano most of us are accustomed to.
Grated over pasta, or eaten as a table cheese or a snack, Parmigiano Reggiano is unrivalled in terms of its nutritional value and is recommended in the diet of children and sportsmen. It is delicious melted in a bain-marie along with gorgonzola, taleggio and fontina cheese for a four-cheese sauce for Sedanini Rigati. Pop it under the grill for a few minutes and then straight to the table ...
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