Grate Formaggio!

Grate Formaggio! David Rosengarten

Rosengarten Classic. Originally Published: Dean and Deluca Blog. 

When it comes to grating cheese over Italian food, the king of the hill in America, for decades, has been the stuff with various versions of “Parma” in its name.

But Americans are getting much more sophisticated now—both in how accurately they’re using the “P” word, and in how often they’re finding alternatives.

First things first. Though we were all brought up calling this stuff “Parmesan cheese”—and though the only experience many of us had of it, for years, was out of a little green shaker purchased at the supermarket—we were dead wrong. The real stuff, which comes from Parma and other areas around the Po Valley in Italy, is called “Parmigiano-Reggiano.” And when I started asking questions of Parmigiano-Reggiano officials, they told me, unequivocally, “No cheese from Parma has EVER gone into that little green shaker.”

Well, most of us know by now that to get the real thing, you have to find a chunk from a big wheel that has the Parmigiano-Reggiano’s consorzio logo all over it. But not everyone knows that this grand cheese, shredded or grated, is not de rigueur for pasta and other Italian dishes. For me, Parmigiano-Reggiano, with its very dairy-like taste, and its tendency to reach something almost caramel-like with age, is a perfect cheese for pasta dishes that emphasize dairy. Hit fresh pasta with butter, with a little cream, perhaps…and a major shake of Parmigiano-Reggiano is uncannily appropriate.

However, in the U.S., Parmigiano-Reggiano probably gets used at least as often in tomato-garlic-olive oil pasta dishes—a practice distinctly frowned on in Italy! No, when the pasta compass points south, the cow’s-milk Parmigiano-Reggiano should yield to…the sheep-milk Pecorino! The gamy, earthy, barnyard-y taste of grated hard sheep’s milk cheese is a much better match with tomato sauces, and even seems more appropriate on dried pasta dishes. If you’re still into the Parmigiano-Reggiano with tomato sauce thing…discover what many chefs across America have discovered in recent years: this is where Pecorino Romano, or Pecorino Sardo, is in its element.

And one more note: northern Italy yields another interesting grating cheese, Grana Padano, which, like Parmigiano-Reggiano, is made from cow’s milk. Because it’s a little cheaper per pound, Grana Padano has long been considered by American Italophiles as an inferior alternative to Parmigiano-Reggiano. But ‘taint so! It is a bit less concentrated in its dairy flavor—and sophisticated chefs have discovered recently that that can be a plus! If your Parmigiano-Reggiano threatens to steal the spotlight in any dish, the answer is simple—use the subtler, better-harmonizing Grana Padano instead!

 

Photos Via: BigStockPhoto

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