It used to be that cheese was a relatively simple affair--at least it was in the world I grew up in. There was mozzarella for pizza, cheddar for mac and cheese, and parmesan--Kraft, in the familiar green canister--for the spaghetti and meatballs. My life changed, in more ways than one, when I spent the summer of 1996 in Syracuse doing an internship as part of my preparation for ordination to the Episcopal priesthood. My hosts, who gave me a place to live for the summer, were the Radke family. It was a dreamy summer filled with conversations about art, religion, and food.
Nancy Radke is known to some as the co-author of the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que cookbook but she is most famous for heading up the American information office for Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. If there is anything to be known about this amazing cheese Nancy knows it. She is a gifted communicator and educator and so I spent a summer at her elbow learning how to cook and enjoy Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
I learned (but have not mastered) how to cut a wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano. I savored slivers of Parmigiano kissed by droplets of 40 year-aged balsamic vinegar. I enjoyed Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese on nearly everything and learned how to take the rind and dice it up to flavor stock for Italian soups.
After spending a day running around NYC to purchase Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for a special breakfast Nancy was hosting during the week of New York's Fancy Food Show, I've come to understand how little know I know about this rather complex cheese.
There is no doubt that a hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese can elevate the simplest of meals. I had figured that if I found a reputable cheese counter--one with high turnover where the staff knows how to cut and store the cheeses I was good to go. I figured that as long as my wedge of Parmigiano had the rind attached--or even better--that the tell tale dots were present, then I knew all I needed to know.
Well, as it turns out, Parmigiano-Reggiano like other products that bear the seal of the Consorzio (Consortium) is highly regulated. There are some 445 dairies that produce this cheese and they are not all in Parma. Dairies can be found in Bologna, Modena, Reggio Emelia, and Mantua. Each dairy has a number and that number can be found on the wheel of cheese. The wheel is also marked with the date and year of production and aged for a minimum of 12 months. There is no such thing as TMI (too much information) with this cheese.
The date, for instance, is for more than just historical information. The date will tell you if the cheese is a winter, fall or spring cheese. And like all things seasonal, the cheese will taste different depending on the season it was produced. Levels of grass for pasture-grazing and temperature and humidity levels during the aging process will all effect the taste and texture of the cheese. The only way to understand the immense variety to be experienced in this cheese is to collect wedges from several different wheels (produced at different times of the year) and do a side by side taste test. After collecting wedges from Artisanal Cheese Center, Di Palo Fine Foods, Murray's Cheese Shop, and Grace's Marketplace that is exactly what I did.
Over the next few days I'll post about each stop--stay tuned!
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