According to my doctor, it’s okay for me to eat a little cheese every day – just as long as I always wash it down with red wine. He also recommends parmesan for weaning infants because it’s so easily digestible and such a rich source of calcium. Teething infants soothe their gums on chunks of parmesan, and their grandmothers sing to them as they feed them homemade broth with grated parmesan.
The national love affair with cheese knows no bounds – it’s one of the few things Italians cannot do without. I guess that’s why astronauts Maurizio Cheli and Umberto Guidoni felt compelled to smuggle a few wedges of Parmigiano Reggiano aboard the Space Shuttle. It was subsequently discovered that this is one of the few products that remains intact at zero gravity. It has since become authorised as the only non-processed food in the diet of the International Space Station.
Many years ago, nearly every town in Italy had its own latteria where fresh cheese would be sold daily, in the same way as bread. It never came with any wrapping, and seldom even had a name. Nostrano (local), fresco (fresh) or stagionato (aged) were the only appellations likely to be applied. Sadly, these shops have all but disappeared and today you often have to venture a little further afield for something special. Nowadays, when I need a piece of parmesan, I drive down the road to the province of Parma. When I fancy a piece of goat’s cheese, I’ll take to a mountain track; word of mouth guides me to the source.