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Parmesan (, ) is an Italian cuisine hard, Granular cheese produced from Dairy cattle and aged at least 12 months. It is a grana-type cheese, along with Grana Padano, the historic , and others.
The term Parmesan may refer to either Parmigiano Reggiano or, when outside the European Union and Lisbon Agreement countries, a locally produced imitation.
Parmigiano Reggiano is named after two of the areas which produce it, the Italian provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia ( Parmigiano is the Italian adjective for the city and province of Parma and Reggiano is the adjective for the province of Reggio Emilia); it is also produced in the part of Bologna west of the River Reno and in Modena (all of the above being located in the Emilia-Romagna region), as well as in the part of Mantua (Lombardy) on the south bank of the River Po.
The names Parmigiano Reggiano and Parmesan are protected designations of origin (PDO) for cheeses produced in these provinces under Italian and European law. Case C-132/05 Commission v Germany European Commission Legal Service, July 2008 Outside the EU, the name Parmesan is legally used for imitations, with only the full Italian name unambiguously referring to PDO Parmigiano Reggiano. A 2021 press release by the Italian farmer-rancher association Coldiretti reported that, in the United States, 90% of "Italian sounding" cheese sold as parmesan, mozzarella, grana, and gorgonzola was produced domestically.
Parmigiano Reggiano, among others, has been called "king of cheeses".
, about 3.6 million wheels (approx. 137,000 Tonne) of Parmesan are produced every year; they use about 18% of all the milk produced in Italy.CLAL (Italian dairy consulting company), "Italy: Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese Production" [3]
Most workers in the Italian dairy industry ( bergamini) belong to the Italian General Confederation of Labour. As older dairy workers retire, younger Italians have tended to work in factories or offices. Immigrants have filled that role. In 2015, 60 percent of the workers in the Parmesan industry were immigrants from India, almost all Sikhs.
Starter whey (containing a mixture of certain thermophile lactic acid bacteria) is added, and the temperature is raised to . Calf rennet is added, and the mixture is left to curdle for 10–12 minutes. The curd is then broken up mechanically into small pieces (around the size of rice grains). The temperature is then raised to with careful control by the cheese-maker. The curd is left to settle for 45–60 minutes. The compacted curd is collected in a piece of muslin before being divided in two and placed in molds. There are of milk per vat, producing two cheeses each. The curd making up each Truckle at this point weighs around . The remaining whey in the vat was traditionally used to feed the pigs from which prosciutto di Parma was produced. The barns for these animals were usually just a few metres away from the cheese production rooms.
The cheese is put into a stainless steel, round form that is pulled tight with a spring-powered buckle so the cheese retains its wheel shape. After a day or two, the buckle is released and a plastic belt imprinted numerous times with the Parmigiano Reggiano name, the plant's number, and month and year of production is put around the cheese, and the metal form is buckled tight again. The imprints take hold on the rind of the cheese in about a day and the wheel is then put into a brine bath to absorb salt for 20–25 days. After brining, the wheels are then transferred to the aging rooms in the plant for 12 months. Each cheese is placed on wooden shelves that can be 24 cheeses high by 90 cheeses long or 2,160 total wheels per aisle. Each cheese and the shelf underneath it is then cleaned every seven days, and the cheese is turned.
At 12 months, the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano () inspects every wheel. The cheese is tested by one of the country's 25 master graders, known as battitore (), who taps each wheel with a small hammer (informally called martelletto) to identify undesirable cracks and voids within the wheel, a process that takes about six or seven seconds. There are three grading categories. Wheels in the top category are heat-branded on the rind with the Consorzio's logo. Those in the second tier bear the mark but have their rinds marked with lines or crosses all the way around to inform consumers that they are not getting top-quality Parmigiano Reggiano. Cheese in the third category is simply stripped of all rind markings.
Traditionally cows are fed only on grass or hay, producing grass-fed milk. Only natural whey culture is allowed as a starter, together with calf rennet." Standard di Produzione ". Disciplinare del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano D.O.P. (fourth paragraph). Famiglia Gastaldello, 2005–2008.
The only additive allowed is salt, which the cheese absorbs while being submerged for 20 days in brine tanks saturated to near-total salinity with Mediterranean sea salt. The product ages for a minimum of one year and an average of two years; an expert from the Consorzio typically conducts a sound test with a hammer to determine if a wheel has finished maturing.
A typical Parmigiano Reggiano wheel is about high, in diameter, and weighs .
It was praised as early as 1348 in the writings of Boccaccio; in the The Decameron, he invents a "mountain, all of grated Parmesan cheese", on which "dwell folk that do nought else but make macaroni and ravioli, and boil them in capon's broth, and then throw them down to be scrambled for; and hard by flows a rivulet of Vernaccia, the best that ever was drunk, and never a drop of water therein".Giovanni Boccaccio, Decamerone VIII 3. The translation quoted here is that by J.M. Rigg .
During the Great Fire of London of 1666, Samuel Pepys buried his "Parmazan cheese, as well as his wine and some other things" to preserve them.See Pepys's diary entry for 4 September, 1666
In the memoirs of Giacomo Casanova, he remarked that the name Parmesan was a misnomer common throughout an "ungrateful" Europe in his time (mid-18th century), as the cheese was produced in the comune (municipality) of Lodi, in Lombardy, not Parma.Casanova, Histoire de ma vie 8:ix.
The industrialization and subsequent standardization of Parmesan production in the 19th and 20th centuries have reduced the heterogeneity in its sensory characteristics, but the key characteristics: hardness, sharpness, aroma, saltiness, and savoriness have remained.
October 27 is designated "Parmigiano Reggiano Day" by The Consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano. This day celebrating the "king of cheeses" originated in response to the two earthquakes hitting the area of origin in May 2012. The devastation was profound, displacing tens of thousands of residents, collapsing factories, and damaging historical churches, bell towers, and other landmarks. Years of cheese production were lost during the disaster, about $50 million worth. To assist the cheese producers, Modena native chef Massimo Bottura created the recipe riso cacio e pepe. He invited the world to cook this new dish along with him launching "Parmigiano Reggiano Day"—October 27.
Parmigiano Reggiano is also particularly high in Glutamic acid, containing as much as 1.2 g of glutamate per 100 g of cheese. The high concentration of glutamate explains the strong umami taste of Parmigiano Reggiano.
In many areas outside Europe the name Parmesan has become genericised and may denote any of several hard Italian-style grating types of cheese.Oxford Companion to Food, s.v. 'parmesan' These cheeses, chiefly from the US and Argentina, are often sold under names intended to evoke the original, such as Parmesan, Parmigiana, Parmesana, Parmabon, Real Parma, Parmezan, or Parmezano.
Kraft Foods is a major North American producer of Grated cheese Parmesan (a locally-legal term) and has been selling it since 1945.
Some non-European Parmesan producers have taken strong exception to the attempts of the European Union to globally control the trademark of the Parmesan name.
Original texture
Alberto Grandi and others have claimed that early Parmesan was softer and fattier, with a black rind resembling the Wisconsin version. transcript However, it is well documented that it has been consistently dry, hard, and grainy since the 15th century.
Society and culture
Parmigiano Reggiano has been the target of organized crime in Italy, particularly the Mafia or Camorra, which ambush delivery trucks on the Autostrada A1, in northern Italy, between Milan and Bologna, hijacking shipments. The cheese is ultimately sold in southern Italy. Between November 2013 and January 2015, an organised crime gang stole 2039 wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano from warehouses in northern and central Italy. Some banks accept Parmesan cheese as collateral for a loan.
Components
Parmigiano Reggiano has many Odor-active compounds, including various and Butyric acid. Butyric acid and isovaleric acid together are sometimes used to imitate the dominant aromas." I Know What I Like: Understanding Odor Preferences". The Fragrance Foundation, 2008.
Non-European Parmesan cheese
Parmesan cheese made outside of the European Union is a family of hard-grating cheeses made from cow's milk and inspired by the original Italian cheese. They are generally pale yellow in color and usually used grated on dishes such as American pizza and Caesar salad. Some American generic "Parmesan" is sold already grated and has been aged for less than 12 months.
Non-European production
Parmesan cheese is defined differently in various jurisdictions outside of Europe.
Adulteration controversy
Many American manufacturers have been investigated for allegedly going beyond the 4% cellulose limit (allowed as an anticaking agent for grated cheese, 21 CFR 133.146). In one case, FDA findings found "no Parmesan cheese was used to manufacture" a Pennsylvania manufacturer's grated cheese labeled "Parmesan", apparently made from a mixture of other cheeses and cellulose. The manufacturer pleaded guilty and received a sentence of three years' probation, a $5,000 fine, and 200 hours of community service.
Similar cheeses
Parmesan is the best-known of the grana-type cheeses, but there are others.
Grana Padano
Grana Padano is an Italian cheese similar to Parmigiano Reggiano, but is produced mainly in Lombardy, where Padano refers to the Po Valley ( Pianura Padana); the cows producing the milk may be fed silage as well as grass; the milk may contain slightly less fat, milk from several different days may be used, and must be aged a minimum of 9 months.
Reggianito
Reggianito is an Argentine cheese similar to Parmigiano Reggiano. Developed by Italian-Argentine cheesemakers, the cheese is made in smaller wheels and aged for less time but is otherwise broadly similar. (2023). 9781119619215, John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781119619215
See also
Further reading
(2025). 9782875740076, Peter Lang. ISBN 9782875740076
External links
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