More questions, now hopelessly out of order.

[gordonzola]

hadiya -- parmesan. what's worth buying, really?

Parmigiano Reggiano. You value food H, I know you do. So don’t fuck around. And don’t buy it pre-grated either. It loses so much flavor you might as well buy something cheap if you’re gonna do that.

Though Parmigiano Reggiano is name-controlled, not all is equal. The single biggest determinant is age. If you see really cheap Parm (like at Lucca) it’s usually past 3 years when the distributors start dumping it off. Still good cheese obviously, but more rindy and brittle. I like it between 28-32 months where it’s good and sharp, but still moist and fruity. There are differences in the spring vs. winter milks too, and while I love tasting for the difference I don’t recommend trying to figure it out as a consumer. There’s not enough difference, especially for grating, to worry about it.

Beware though. The Parm Consortium just relaxed their rules and are allowing Parm under 24 months to be exported. The cheese will have the traditional dot matrix Parmigiano Reggiano on it, but it will look struck-through with solid lines. This will be perfectly fine young cheese, but should cost substantially less than the regular. My guess is that a lot of retailers will just switch to this and continue charging the old price.

If you can find a Grana Padano and it’s a few bucks less that the Parm Regg it can be a really good deal. It’s made the same way as the Parm but year round and in a wider region. It’s also usually younger, but not always. (Parmigiano Reggiano is also a "grana" technically)

If you want a cheaper option, you can also use Pecorino Romano. This is sheep milk and way saltier and sharper than the Parm so adjust recipes accordingly. Most is made in Sardinia now, but the best are the ones still made in the Rome region, either the "Genuino" which has a light brown wax or the Locatelli. Any Pecorino Pomano will be a better option than the domestic or Argentine "parmesans" in my opinion.

Comments

[twoeggbreakfast.livejournal.com]

this is great information. we go through tons of parm in my house, but haven't a clue what we're doing. i'm emailing this to my roommate.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

I'm here to serve.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

Kraft is made from domestic parm aged aboput 6 months and filled out with cellulose powder. The cellulose powder is an "anti-caking agent". If you cost it out, subtracting this filler, the amount per pound is incredibly high for what you get.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

actually, I shouldn't say domestic because that's propriety information. It could be made anywhere. Argentina makes a parm and I even bought some Polish Parmesan once because it was so cheap (we retailed it for $3.99 so even though it wasn't that good, people loved it). they made it in squares for industrial grating use.

you got it bro!

[slipkid.livejournal.com]

"I like it between 28-32 months where it’s good and sharp, but still moist and fruity."

bring it on!

Re: you got it bro!

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

ah, you love it when I get all foodie.

oh, you were talking about food?

[slipkid.livejournal.com]

i thought . . . never mind.

[ayodele.livejournal.com]

So don’t fuck around. even if i had entertained the idea, you've now scared me out of it.

[brownstargirl.livejournal.com]

have you ever had a canadian parm reg? i bought some cuz it was cheap at Cheese World, and it's okay but kinda weird. like with a kinda earwax aftertaste. it's gran padano all the way next time.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

Canadian parm? nope. never heard of it.