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Made with part skim cow's milk,
parmigiano reggiano is considered the king of cheeses. It takes more than 500 litres of
milk to produce one wheel of parmigiano (weighing roughly 40 kg).
It can be aged from 12 to 40 months and in some cases even longer. We offer the following ages:
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How we make Parmigiano Reggiano
Every day, the milk from the evening milking is left to rest until morning in large vats,
where the fatty part spontaneously rises to the surface. This is used for the production
of butter.
As soon as the whole milk form the morning milking arrives from the farm, the skimmed milk
from the night before is poured into the typical bell-shaped copper cauldrons where calf
rennet and fermented whey, rich in natural lactic ferments obtained from the processing of
the day before, are added.
The milk coagulates in around ten minutes, and the curd which forms is then broken down
into minuscule granules using a traditional tool called "spino".
This is where fire comes into the picture, in a cooking process which reaches 55 degrees
centigrade, after which the cheesy granules sink to the bottom of the cauldron forming a
single mass.
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After resting for around thirty minutes, the
cheese mass is removed, with deft movements, by the cheese maker.
Cut into two parts and wrapped in its typical cloth, the cheese is then placed in a
mould which will give it its final shape.
Each cheese is given a unique, progressive number using a casein plate and this number
remains with it just like an identity card.
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After a few hours, a special marking band
engraves the month and year of production onto the cheese, as well as its cheese dairy
registration number and the unmistakable dotted inscriptions around the complete
circumference of the cheese wheel, which is then, after a few days, immersed in a
water and salt-saturated solution.
It is a process of salting by absorption which, within less than a month, closes the
production cycle and opens the not less fascinating cycle of maturation.
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The maturation
The cheese wheels are laid out in long rows in the silent maturation rooms.
Each cheese has used around 600 litres of milk and the constant care of the farmers and
cheese masters.
But the work continues.
The cheese is allowed to rest on wooden tables where the outside of the cheese dries
forming a natural crust without being treated in any way and therefore remaining perfectly
edible.
The story of Parmigiano-Reggiano is a long one, and also slow, following at the natural
rhythm of the seasons.
In fact, the minimum maturation time is twelve months, and only at this point can it be
decided if each individual cheese is worthy of the name it was given at its birth.
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Geography
Parmigiano-Reggiano is produced exclusively in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia,
Modena and parts of the provinces of Mantua and Bologna, on the plains, hills and
mountains enclosed between the rivers Po and Reno.
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Nutritional features
Parmigiano-Reggiano (also known as Parmesan cheese) is a hard granular cheese with a long
and natural maturation.
It's a highly concentrated cheese and contains only 30% water and
70% nutrients.
This means that Parmigiano-Reggiano is very rich in protein, vitamin and mineral.
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is an important component in special diets to meet the needs of
any age. Pediatricians, for example, advise mothers and nurses to enrich baby foods with
Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Extraordinary, highly digestible, totally natural: Parmigiano-Reggiano is the King of
Cheese.
Look
the nutrition chart table and discover the values of Parmigiano-Reggiano
cheese
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How to store Parmigiano
Reggiano
After purchasing a piece of Parmigiano-Reggiano freshly cut cheese or after opening the
vacuum pack, the cheese must be stored at home in the refrigerator at a temperature
between 4 and 8 Cº.
Parmigiano-Reggiano maintains its organoleptic characteristics:
- if it is stored at the right humidity level (in ventilated refrigerators, cheese
tends to dry)
- if it is stored separately from other food (the fatty part of cheese tends to absorb
other smells present in the fridge)
For example, it should be kept in appropriate glass or plastic containers. Another very
practical solution is wrapping it in food-grade plastic film.In this way,
Parmigiano-Reggiano can be stored for a limited period of time, whilst checking its
preservation conditions. Cheese should never be frozen: however, it is possible to freeze
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.[ Fonte: www.parmigiano-reggiano.it]
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