PARMIGIANO:
THE GRATEST CHEESE

When I asked Steve Jenkins, author of Cheese Primer, what the greatest cheese in the world was he didn’t hesitate in his response: Parmigiano-Reggiano.  If you only know this cheese as Parmesan, and especially only from shiny green canisters, this may come as a shock. But, as Jenkins explained, “no other cheese in the world has had an entire cuisine built up around it.” No other cheese is equally at home in risotto, on tagliatelle, sprinkled into soup like stracciatella, shaved onto carpaccio, melted into fondue, or eaten by itself.

Unfortunately, almost no cheese has so many ersatz versions. The problem is that unlike Roquefort, for example, Parmesan isn’t a protected name. So imitations can be made in the United States and Argentina, the two biggest producers of Parmesan pretenders. The consumer’s only assurance is to look for Parmigiano-Reggiano, which is the authentic name anyway for this cow’s milk cheese from northern Italy. But all Parmigiano (which is what we’ll call it for short) is not the same. Parmigiano has seasons.  

“I want the sweet one, not the salty one,” says a 70ish woman whose turn has just come up at DiPalo’s Fine Foods, Inc., a tiny, family owned cheese shop in New York’s Little Italy. “Give her the spring Parmigiano,” says co-owner Luigi DiPalo. Then he turns to me and adds, “We have a lot of sophisticated customers and they know the kind of Parmigiano they like.”

In spring, the butterfat content of the cheese is lower. As a result the cheese is somewhat drier. But the tender spring grasses, herbs, and flowers that cows eat give the milk and the cheese a more complex flavor than cheese from other seasons. The shard of April 1996 Parmigiano that DiPalo hands me is much lighter in color than any Parmigiano I have ever seen, almost white. The texture is softer and the flavor more delicate than any Parmigiano I have ever eaten.

Summer cheese is the strongest tasting Parmigiano because cows are stressed by summer heat and they graze primarily on dried grasses, which are more intense than fresh grass.  The interior of summer cheese is also the darkest in color, a deep golden. DiPalo suggests summer cheese for pasta stuffing and pesto because its flavor won’t get lost. He also thinks summer cheese is the most appropriate for big wines like Barolo and Barbaresco.

The peak time for making fall cheese is October and November. The weather is perfect and grasses are in their second bloom. Consequently, the milk’s butterfat is the highest of the year, giving the cheese a golden color and rich flavor. “For me, this is the best Parmigiano,” DiPalo says. “I love the flavor, sweet, yet intense. So you can use it for eating or grating.” The August 1996 Parmigiano I ate at DiPalo’s straddles the summer and fall seasons. It’s noticeably drier and more granular in texture than the April cheese, with a deeper color and more full-bodied flavor. Winter Parmigiano is sweet and delicate with a very light color. “It’s a real treat when you can get it,” DiPalo says.

In 1955 the Italian Government formed denominations for cheeses, much like those for wines. Parmigiano can only be made in the entire counties of Reggio-Emilia, Parma, and Modena, and in the portion of Bologna west of the Reno River, all in the region of Emilia-Romagna; and in Mantua, east of the Po River in Lombardy.  Some 10,000 dairies supply milk for over 600 cheese producers, who make wheels that weigh from 53 to 97 pounds, much the same way they have been made for over 700 years.

Grana Padano, makes an adequate Parmigiano substitute, primarily for grating. This granular grating cheese (which is what grana means) comes from other areas of Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy, and parts of Piedmont. The Grana Padano at DiPalo’s was quite good but without the depth and complexity of Parmigiano, which is also technically a grana cheese.

The quality of Parmigiano starts with the milk. “The milk is very high in quality. It’s exceptionally fresh, never pooled (stored), refrigerated or heat treated,” says Nancy Radke of the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano, the regulatory and promotional agency for Parmigiano.

Another factor in the quality of Parmigiano is that much like the two other great culinary treasures of Emilia-Romagna, prosciutto and balsamic vinegar, it is subject to variations in temperature as it ages. This helps to activate the enzymes in the cheese, which produce Parmigiano’s unique combination of aroma, flavor, color, and texture.

Scrupulous monitoring is the final assurance of  Parmigiano’s high quality and consistency. If the sample tested from a one-year-old wheel isn’t up to snuff, the cheese is rejected by crossing out the words Parmigiano-Reggiano that have been stamped on the rind in continuous rows. This cheese is sold as retinato and is normally not available outside Italy.

While it is hard to imagine Parmigiano as health food, it is certainly healthful, with lower sodium than most hard cheeses. Parmigiano also has 18 of the 21 amino acids the human body needs. These amino acids give Parmigiano its distinctive crunch and also aid digestion by breaking down proteins in the body. “That’s why Italian mothers put Parmigiano on babies’ cereal and why hospital patients in Italy get Parmigiano,” Radke says.  These amino acids manifest themselves as the white specks you see throughout a chunk of Parmigiano and they become more pronounced as the cheese ages.

Parmigiano is made from partially skimmed milk, which reduces the fat content. And its flavor is so robust, a little goes a long way. Because Parmigiano is concentrated and not pasteurized it is an excellent source of nutrients, especially protein, calcium, phosphorous, and B vitamins.

While it’s possible in Italy to get Parmigiano as young as 14 months old, an 18-month-old cheese is the youngest you’re likely to see in the United States. Younger cheese (up to 22 months) is more appropriate eaten by itself rather than grated for pasta. Most Parmigiano sold is from two to three years old, though only an experienced cheese retailer will know exactly when a particular wheel is just right. Cheeses older than 31/2 years are unusual in the United States. Parmigiano wheels stamped “Export” on the rind are of a higher grade and will usually cost more. The rind also contains a number that corresponds to the producer and, in abbreviated Italian, the month the cheese was made. For example, “Gen” stands for Gennaio or January.

Buy only as much cheese as you can reasonably use in three weeks or so and wrap it in plastic wrap. Change the plastic wrap frequently to avoid off flavors from developing, and store it in the warmest part of the refrigerator. Grate the cheese only when you need it. My favorite grater is the Zyliss drum grater. In the past few years the Microplane grater has become popular. This file-like grater  makes featherlike strands that melt perfectly onto things like sautéed asparagus. For shaving into salads like a simple mix of Parmigiano and thin slices of fresh fennel dressed in olive oil and lemon juice, I use a vegetable peeler.

For eating out of hand, use a pick, a smaller version of a knife with an oval blade (called an almond knife) that cheese retailers use to retain the texture and grain of each piece. With his almond knife, DiPalo scores a wheel of Parmigiano, then pierces it all around, following the grain of the cheese as much as possible until it splits in two. Then he uses the knife again to cut wedges. “Others use a wire because it’s nice and neat. But you don’t get a piece that pops out like this,” says DiPalo, as he points to a kind of bubble of cheese on the wedge—called a mollica (“crumb” in Italian)—that occurs when the cheese is cut in this irregular fashion. “The old timers love when that happens. They all want a piece with a mollica on it,” he says.

Parmigiano is such a versatile cheese, it shouldn’t be limited to pasta or risotto. Suzette Gresham, chef of Acquerello restaurant in San Francisco is one of many American chefs who use Parmigiano in inventive ways. Her Parmigiano budino is a flan made with milk, cream, Parmigiano, and nutmeg. It is then baked in cups and served with buttered asparagus spears and pea shoots tossed in a lemon oil vinaigrette. When he was at Spiaggia in Chicago, Paul Bartolotta made bar snacks called fricos by cooking grated Parmigiano on a nonstick skillet until crisp. At Bartolotta’s suggestion, I tried chunks of Parmigiano simply drizzled with balsamic vinegar (the real stuff). Sensational.

Though many like big red wines with Parmigiano, my preference is sparkling wine like Prosecco or a fruity light red like Beaujolais (or perhaps Valpolicella). One way to combine the two is with Marzemino Dolce, a fruity, spritzy red from Veneto. When you’re the most versatile cheese in the world, you can dance with a lot of partners.

(This story originally ran in the Wine Spectator in 1998.)