16 culturecheesemag.com BES T CHEESES 2024
CENTERFOLD
P
armigiano Reggiano is often
referred to as the "King of
Cheeses," and the sight (and
scent) of thousands of imposing wheels
aging gracefully on wooden shelves is
indeed a majestic experience for the
senses. If you've ever tasted a piece from
a freshly cracked wheel and witnessed
the skillful, almost reverent process of
how it is properly opened, you'll likely
appreciate why it is one of Italy's most
iconic cheeses.
It's also one of the country's oldest:
origins of Parmigiano Reggiano go back to
the Middle Ages, when Benedictine and
Cistercian monks in the Po Valley made
a cow's milk cheese that was suitable for
long preservation. Italian author and poet
Giovanni Boccaccio mentioned it in his
most famous work, The Decameron, in the
fourteenth century, describing a mythical
happy valley called Bengodi, where there
was "a mountain of grated Parmigiano
cheese, on top of which there were people
who did nothing but make maccheroni
and ravioli and cook them in capon broth
and then roll them down so that he who
got the most had the most."
During the Renaissance, production
increased in the Parma and Reggio
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CRACKING
THE KING
Marc Hernandez is
a cheesemonger and
head cheese buyer at
Formaggio Kitchen
in Cambridge,
Massachussetts. Here,
he shows us how to
properly break down
a wheel of Parm.
Score the
wheel in the
center on
both sides.
Wedge a small
cheese knife
in the
center
of the
wheel.
Add more
small knives
along the
scored line.
Once a fault
line has been
created, use a
large knife to
pry apart the
two halves.
Smile,
because
you did it!
Repeat
process
for smaller
wedges.
Identifying stamps indicate
the cheese's legitimacy.
