Grana Cheeses

There are numerous ways to categorize cheese: by milk (cow, sheep, goat, etc.); by country of origin (USA, UK, France, Spain, etc.) and family/style/type. I prefer family/style/type. In an earlier posting, I divide cheeses into 8 categories. In her book, The Book of Cheese, Liz Thorpe divides cheeses into 9 categories. Any of these is acceptable.

For the next four weeks, I will discuss various families to assist those who are sitting for the ACS CCP Exam on August 4th.

Grana is a style of hard cheeses created in Italy. The most popular of these cheeses are Parmigiano Reggiano PDO,  Grana Padano PDO. and Pecorino Romano PDO. Since 1996, all 3 cheeses have been protected under the EU’s PDO (Protected Designation of Origin). Previously the protected designation was DOP, however, the European Community has been standardizing the designations of all protected cheeses into PDO.

While Grana is a style of cheese, according to the PDO, the term “Grana” can only be used for Grana Padano PDO.

Grana cheeses are mature, hard cheeses generally used for grating, although all can be enjoyed as table cheeses, especially at younger ages. They are produced in large formats. The average weight of the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO is 40.5 Kg (approximately 89 US pounds).

Following the Slow Food “Cheese” Festival in 2011, our group toured a Zanetti aging facility, hosted by the head of Zanetti, Atelier Zanetti. There were rows and rows of both Parmigiano Reggiano PDO and Grana Padano PDO stretching as far as the eye could see. Mr. Zanetti told us the facility housed north of 400 million US Dollars worth of cheese. He took us through a Grana Cheese 101 that included the two ways of testing for flaws; the old school which he preferred of tapping the wheels and listening for flaws; and the new way using an X-ray machine. After that presentation we were treated to a tasting of 12 month, 24 month, and 36 month Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheeses. The pictures inside the Zanetti facility are from that visit.

From there, we had a spectacular family-style lunch at a local Emilia restaurant. Then it was off to visit the Beretta Brothers Prosciutto-producing facility. A bit of trivia: some of the whey from the production of Parmigiano Reggiano PDO is used to feed the pigs that become Prosciutto.

Of the 3, Parmigiano Reggiano PDO has the strictest and most closely guarded regulations as laid out by the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO Consortium. These regulations include:

• Must be made using unpasteurized milk
• Produced in a defined geographical region that includes Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Mantua (on the right side of the Po River and Bologna (on the left side of the Po River).
• Silage is forbidden as feed for the dairy cows.
• Only 3 ingredients: milk, salt and calf rennet. Starter culture is made from milk reserved from the previous day’s make.
• Milk, cheesemaking process and 12 months minimum aging must be in the above area.
• 100% of the wheels must be tested by the Consortium to ensure they meet quality standards.
• Each wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano PDO must include rind with the proper pin dotting.
• Can be sold after aging a minimum of 24 months. Premium Parmigiano Reggiano PDO is sold at 36 months and specifically selected wheels may be sold after 48 months of aging.

The regulations include cutting, shredding and grating along with logo usage. The cutting, shredding and grating contains the black logo with a picture of Parmigiano Reggiano PDO. That logo cannot be used for wheels processed at the retail level.

Also, each wheel contains several marks that include the producing dairy, production month and year, and an oval mark certifying examination by the Consortium. These are burned into the natural rind in the same manner as a brand on cattle.

For the entire Parmigiano Reggiano PDO  regulation, check out this document.

Grana Padano PDO is similar to Parmigiano Reggiano PDO but is less robust in flavor and less grainy and crumbly. Some sileage is allowed as feed except for Trentingrana PDO which is Grana Padano PDO produced in the province of Trento.

Grana Padano PDO regulations include:

• Shape, diameter and height are regulated within the PDO.
• The fat content must be 32% minimum.
• The hard rind must be a dark or natural golden yellow and the paste must be white or straw colored. No artificial coloring is allowed.
• The area of production and grating for Grana Padano PDO comprises the provinces of
  Alessandria, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara, Turin, Verbania, Vercelli, Bergamo, Brescia, Como,
  Cremona, Lecco, Lodi, Mantua to the left of the Po, Milan, Monza, Pavia, Sondrio, Varese, Trento,
  Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona, Vicenza, Bologna to the right of the Reno, Ferrara, Forlì
  Cesena, Piacenza, Ravenna, Rimini and the following cities in the province of Bolzano: Anterivo,
  Lauregno, Proves, Senale-S. Felice and Trodena in the autonomous province of Bolzano.
• Must be made using unpasteurized milk.
• Milk must be used to make cheese within 24 hours of milking.
• Lysozyme may be used in production except for Trentingrana PDO.
• Grana Padano PDO cannot be sold until it is a full 9 months old.

For the entire Grana Padano PDO regulations, check out this document.

Pecorino Romano PDO is produced using unpasteurized sheep’s milk. The PDO regulations document is in Italian and can be reviewed here.

 

Pecorino Romano PDO was originally produced in Lazio, the region surrounding Rome but today the primarily region of production is Sardinia. The milk must come from sheep raised on the plains of Lazio and Sardinia. Lamb rennet must be used to coagulate the milk.

Pecorino Romano PDO has a distinctively sharp flavor profile and is much more salty than either Parmigiano Reggiano PDO or Grana Padano PDO. It is often used on pasta dishes and is one of the main ingredients in Cacio e Pepe.

At five months, it is desirable as a table cheese and at nine months, as the flavor has intensified, it is more suited as a grating cheese.

A wide selection of these cheeses is available at my Amazon Influencer Store. BelGioioso’s American Grana, made using Old World methods is available at my shop inside Sweet Combs of Honey in Downtown Lavonia.

Next family I will discuss is Cheddar.

In addition to being a member of the Internationale Guilde des Fromagers (Jura and Garde) and an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability.

 

 

 

 

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