7 STEPS FROM MILK TO PARMESAN
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1. Unpasteurised milk is poured into giant copper pans: 16 litres are used to make just 1kg cheese.
Parmesan maker Damiano Delfante taps a cheese with a brass hammer – he can tell its quality from the sound it makes
FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHS: GEORGIE HACKETT. RECIPES & FOOD STYLING: POLLYANNA COUPLAND. FOOD PHOTOGRAPHS: TOBY SCOTT. STYLING: TABITHA HAWKINS
2. Fermented whey from the previous day (the liquid left after the curds are removed) and rennet (an enzyme that curdles milk into curds and whey) are added to the milk.
Around the city of Parma in northern Italy, parmigiano reggiano is more than just cheese: it’s part of daily life. On average, the locals consume 500g each of the umami-rich stuff every week. “We put parmigiano reggiano in almost everything,” Maria Chiara Passani from the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium (PRC) tells me. “We use it like salt. It’s in our DNA.”
3. The curds are then cut into tiny grains with a tool called a ‘spino’. The mixture of whey and curds is heated and the curds fall to the bottom of the pans.
But parmesan producers have had it tough in the past 10 years. An earthquake, recession, Covid and a series of audacious parmesan robberies (the 40kg wheels of cheese are worth around €700 each) have troubled producers. And now there’s another growing problem: counterfeit parmesan.
4. The curds are strained through linen cloth, then transferred to large round moulds where the name of the dairy, date of production and PARMIGIANO REGGIANO are pressed into the still-soft cheese rind in pin dots.
The name parmigiano reggiano is protected under EU law, which means it can only be used for cheese made to the exacting standards demanded by the PRC. But outside Europe, cheap imitations can legally be labelled ‘parmesan’ – in one case a US version was found to contain wood shavings. “We estimate the total value of counterfeit cheese sold as almost that of the real thing,” says the PRC’s Igina Morinia. The counterfeit stuff is sold at much lower prices, too, so the total amount sold is more than the real stuff. Igina adds that millions of Euros will be spent this year tackling the problem (they are currently trialling putting microchips into the wheels so they can be identified as genuine cheeses).
5. After three days, the wheels are transferred to tanks of salty water to soak for 20 days.
We British have a hearty appetite for the real stuff – we’re the fourth largest market for it, in fact. Fourth generation cheese maker Damiano Delfante is gratified that British food lovers appreciate parmesan because he literally devotes his life to making it. The father of four works from 5am to 9pm every day, including Christmas, in his small dairy in the foothills of the mountains near Parma.
6. The wheels are transferred to a warehouse and left to age for 12 months. Officials inspect each wheel, tapping it with a hammer, to gauge whether it’s worthy of the official parmigiano reggiano stamp.