This rich, slightly salty cheese is said to date back to 1200 AD when Benedictine monks needed ways of preserving milk over the harsh winters. Using salt from the nearby salt mines and milk from cows on the monastery farms, they created a hard cheese with a thick rind that could be preserved through the winter.  

Parmigiano Reggiano is a hard cheese made with cow’s milk and is so delicate that every factor of production depends on things being perfect; the cows have to eat a certain grass, it ages better during a certain time of the year and the cheese is given a special stamp known as a Protected Designation of Origin. This means that nowhere else can Parmigiano Reggiano be made, even with the recipe; that honour rests solely with the Parmigiano consortium. Parmigiano actually gets its name from the regions it is produced in; Parma, Reggio Emilia and Modena. Three beautiful towns located in the rolling Tuscan region.

So how is Parmigiano Reggiano made? The process involves boiling full-fat milk and introducing thermophilic cultures of bacteria to the mix, along with rennet, an enzyme that curdles the milk into cheese curds. Calcium chloride is also added to separate the curds from the whey. Once the curds are formed, they are cut and mixed at a simmer to start shaping the cheese. This is a delicate process as cutting the curds too much gives the cheese a bad structure. Then it is finally shaped into a mould and placed under a cheese press, something that helps extract as much moisture as possible. This can go on for multiple runs. At long last, once the cheese reaches a suitable hardness, the details of the cheese are carved into the rind and set aside to harden.

But this is the harder part; the cheese only gets the PDO officiation upon extreme scrutiny by an expert who analyzes every aspect of the cheese to match it to their standards. Only once everything checks out, the expert then takes a branding iron and brand the PDO mark onto the wheel. All this work for some cheese? We can promise you it’s worth it.