It takes over one year for parmigiano reggiano to make it from cow to cheese board.  The best-known of the grana-style cheeses, parmigiano reggiano has inspired many copies, but there is only one true reggiano.  It takes the sun and soil of the Po Valley, and the accumulation of generations of how-to knowledge to make the world’s favorite cheese.   Louisa Cass walks you thought the process with master cheesemaker Bruno Monica.

Got milk? 

Of course cheesemaking begins with the milk.  In the Po Valley, the cows are milked twice daily and the truck arrives as milking finishes, to allow delivery within the required two hours. Not that this load has far to go; the cheese making factory is just across the road. The proximity minimizes the disturbance caused to the milk in transport so it produces better quality cheese.  It’s an intimate relationship that’s common for parmigiano reggiano producers. Indeed, the art of making the regal cheese is a shared masterpiece: the milk producer, the cheesemaker and the ager work together to create each wheel of parmigiano reggiano.

Of these, the cheesemaker is foremost. His knowledge is handed down from generation to generation and Bruno Monica’s son Emanuele works alongside him. His son-in-law Paolo Catani and Paolo’s brother complete the team. The manual process they oversee embodies the famous tagline – parmigiano reggiano is never manufactured, it’s always handmade.

get the starter started 

Lemon-colored whey starter collected the day before is added to the vats of milk, then rennet from the stomach of calves to coagulate the milk. When the curd has set like yoghurt, the cheesemakers use the traditional balloon-shaped whisk – spino – tenderly at first to gently break the mass, then more rapidly to accelerate drying. A mechanical arm then takes over.

 Applying heat

Steam curls through serpentine pipes in the vats to warm the milk. This is a critical phase and the cheesemaker requires keen judgment to ensure the quality of the cheese. Just seconds can make the difference: too much cooking and it will be too dry; too little and it will be too soft and won’t mature.  Pictured  to the left, Monica tests the curd.

birthing twins 

Once the heat is turned off, the curds fall to the tip of the cauldron, forming a single mass. It’s lifted with paddles into cheesecloth and cut into twin cheeses, or gemelli.

 molding

When the new cheeses have drained of whey, they are placed in fascere, timber molds that will give them their distinctive shape. A plastic stencil around their girths instantly marks this cheese as parmigiano reggiano – unless it is found wanting at its inspection in a year’s time.

The first stage of the cheesemaking is completed just two hours after the milk has arrived at the factory. But this is a sprint before a marathon. From here, it becomes an exercise in artisinal and financial patience, with no monetary return on effort for some time.

salting and aging 

  After resting a few days then salting in brine for about 20 more, the cheeses are moved to the maturation rooms where wheels of parmigiano reggiano line timber shelves from floor to ceiling, their rinds blending from straw yellow to ochre depending how long they’ve been here. They will age for a minimum of 12 months, but at 24 months they have best developed the characteristic buttery pineapple flavor and crumbly texture, with crunchy crystals.

The wheels are also aged at warehouses around the region, like Roberto Sartori’s at Parola di Fontenallato which can age up to 100,000 cheeses at a time. High in the rows above, a roaring machine extracts cheeses with its tentacles, turning and brushing them before releasing them back into the rows. It’s said that a parmigiano reggiano should “live two summers” – in other words, it should mature in the different humidity of all the seasons.

inspection 

After 12 months, two inspectors from the Consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano will assess the cheese to ensure it meets their rigorous quality standards. Cheeses deemed worthy will be branded on the rind; those that aren’t will be completely scraped of any marks that link them to the regal cheese. Another test can be done at 18 months and the cheese given the added value brands of Extra or Export.