Parmigiano Reggiano PDO

This grand Italian cheese, known as Parmesan in the UK, has been made for more than 900 years on the plains between the Rivers Po and Reno in Emilia Romagna. Produced with raw milk from cows that only eat grass and hay (no silage), the cheeses are matured for at least 12 months, but usually much longer. Made with partially skimmed milk, the curd is cut into small grains and scalded at 55°C. The curds settle beneath the whey and mass into a single block which is cut in half to yield two cheeses from each vat. The cheeses are moulded in a round, bottomless cheese mould , called a fascèra, and are pressed under their own weight, giving the distinctive shape of the final cheese. They are brined for about 24 days. During maturation the cheeses are brushed to promote rind formation. Traditionally, the waste whey was used to feed pigs, which were used to make Parma ham.