Thread: Parmigiano-Reggiano

Bryan wrote:
> I've had imported Parmesan before, but never the name brand stuff, until today. My gosh it's good. I need to make some stuffed mushrooms with it.
>
> Stuffed Mushrooms
>
> Take button mushrooms and wiggle out the stems. Finely mince the stems, and mix them with Parmesan cheese, cracked black pepper and salt. Put a generous slice of butter into each cap, then fill the caps with the mixture. Put into 350F oven until the mushrooms have shrunken enough that you know they're cooked through.
>
> --Bryan


I saw something curious at the store the other day ... Pasteurized Process
Gruyere ... so I bought some and made mac n cheese with it. Not bad.

On Sep 11, 12:54*pm, Bryan <bryangsimm...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've had imported Parmesan before, but never the name brand stuff, until today. *My gosh it's good. *I need to make some stuffed mushrooms with it.
>
> Stuffed Mushrooms
>
> Take button mushrooms and wiggle out the stems. *Finely mince the stems, and mix them with Parmesan cheese, cracked black pepper and salt. *Put a generous slice of butter into each cap, then fill the caps with the mixture. *Put into 350F oven until the mushrooms have shrunken enough that youknow they're cooked through.
>
> --Bryan

Try Grana Padano- a little cheaper, but very similar.

On Tue, 11 Sep 2012 20:47:34 +0000 (UTC), tert in seattle wrote:

> Bryan wrote:
>> I've had imported Parmesan before, but never the name brand stuff, until today. My gosh it's good. I need to make some stuffed mushrooms with it.
>>
>> Stuffed Mushrooms
>>
>> Take button mushrooms and wiggle out the stems. Finely mince the stems, and mix them with Parmesan cheese, cracked black pepper and salt. Put a generous slice of butter into each cap, then fill the caps with the mixture. Put into 350F oven until the mushrooms have shrunken enough that you know they're cooked through.

I don't think I've ever bought domestic Parmesan and probably haven't
eaten it since the Kraft of my childhood. Why would anybody eat
crappy domestic parmesan?

Now all he needs is sausage, onion, and black pepper. And brush the
outsides with oil or butter.

> I saw something curious at the store the other day ... Pasteurized Process
> Gruyere ... so I bought some and made mac n cheese with it. Not bad.

So what are the ingredients? Pretty much any cheese with added
ingredients after the cheese is drained and pressed is "processed"
cheese. Processed Gruyere used to show up more in markets a few
decades ago - haven't seen it for a while. Was smoke flavoring added?

Look like I accidentally put my gruyere (unprocessed Mifrona Le
Gruyere) in the freezer when I brought it home last week. Oops -
thanks for reminding me.

-sw

Il 11/09/2012 21:54, Bryan ha scritto:

> I've had imported Parmesan before, but never the name brand stuff, until today. My gosh it's good. I need to make some stuffed mushrooms with it.

If I may suggest, try it on a very basic pasta with a tomato and (oli or
butter as you prefer) sauce. It freakin' rocks. You like to add garlic
to your pasta sauce? Do it. You like other ingredients? Add them. Unòess
it's fish, and this is not always trur, add some grated parmigiano
reggiano and enjoy.
--
Vilco
And the Family Stone
Mi devo ubriacare per spiegartelo?

Sqwertz wrote:
>
> I don't think I've ever bought domestic Parmesan and probably haven't
> eaten it since the Kraft of my childhood. Why would anybody eat
> crappy domestic parmesan?

Simple answer, Steve. It's cheap and not everyone has tons of money to
spend on gourmet food. If cheap Kraft is all you've ever tasted, and you
like it good enough, you won't miss the better brands.

G.

Gary <[email protected]> wrote:

>Sqwertz wrote:

>> I don't think I've ever bought domestic Parmesan and probably haven't
>> eaten it since the Kraft of my childhood. Why would anybody eat
>> crappy domestic parmesan?

>Simple answer, Steve. It's cheap and not everyone has tons of money to
>spend on gourmet food.

Country Cheese, a local food store, carries various types of domestic
and Italian parmesan and they all seem to sell pretty well.

My own impression is some of the domestic table parmesans are pretty
good, but of the aged parmesans used for grating, only the Reggiano
is any good.

Steve

On Tue, 11 Sep 2012 18:59:13 -0400, Gary wrote:

> Sqwertz wrote:
>>
>> I don't think I've ever bought domestic Parmesan and probably haven't
>> eaten it since the Kraft of my childhood. Why would anybody eat
>> crappy domestic parmesan?
>
> Simple answer, Steve. It's cheap and not everyone has tons of money to
> spend on gourmet food. If cheap Kraft is all you've ever tasted, and you
> like it good enough, you won't miss the better brands.

It's not cheap. When you consider all the added ingredients,
marketing, packaging that goes into a cylinder of Kraft green chees,
and how little of it you use at a time (you really have to pile on
that canned cheese), real Parmesan isn't really any cheaper.

And you may have missed the "crappy" reference. That's Bryan's
favorite word when he puts down our tastes in food - especially mayo
and oil.

-sw

"Gary" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]..
> Sqwertz wrote:
>>
>> I don't think I've ever bought domestic Parmesan and probably haven't
>> eaten it since the Kraft of my childhood. Why would anybody eat
>> crappy domestic parmesan?
>
> Simple answer, Steve. It's cheap and not everyone has tons of money to
> spend on gourmet food. If cheap Kraft is all you've ever tasted, and you
> like it good enough, you won't miss the better brands.

My husband is an Italian American and he grew up on Kraft and stuff of that
ilk. Perhaps that is why he prefers it. My daughter seems to prefer it as
well but in her case I think it is because it has a much milder or perhaps
more bland flavor? She doesn't like strong tasting cheeses.

I remember the first time I found the real stuff. That was in Boston in the
late 90's. These days in this country it seems to be available pretty much
everywhere now.

I do use it in recipes. Both my husband and daughter will eat it in stuff.
But they still want to sprinkle the Kraft on top of their food.

"Sqwertz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:1hna8csgxjuzj$.[email protected]..
> On Tue, 11 Sep 2012 18:59:13 -0400, Gary wrote:
>
>> Sqwertz wrote:
>>>
>>> I don't think I've ever bought domestic Parmesan and probably haven't
>>> eaten it since the Kraft of my childhood. Why would anybody eat
>>> crappy domestic parmesan?
>>
>> Simple answer, Steve. It's cheap and not everyone has tons of money to
>> spend on gourmet food. If cheap Kraft is all you've ever tasted, and you
>> like it good enough, you won't miss the better brands.
>
> It's not cheap. When you consider all the added ingredients,
> marketing, packaging that goes into a cylinder of Kraft green chees,
> and how little of it you use at a time (you really have to pile on
> that canned cheese), real Parmesan isn't really any cheaper.
>
> And you may have missed the "crappy" reference. That's Bryan's
> favorite word when he puts down our tastes in food - especially mayo
> and oil.

I have gotten Kraft for free using coupons. That doesn't happen very often.
Have also gotten a similar store brand for free using a coupon. We don't
use a lot of that stuff in this house, but yes, we do use it. So when I can
get it for free, I donate it to the food bank unless we happen to need it.

On Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:54:51 -0700 (PDT), Bryan
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I've had imported Parmesan before, but never the name brand stuff, until today. My gosh it's good...

Well, look who just caught up! ROFL!!!

John Kuthe...

Gary wrote:
>
>Simple answer, Steve. It's cheap and not everyone has tons of money to
>spend on gourmet food. If cheap Kraft is all you've ever tasted, and you
>like it good enough, you won't miss the better brands.

Don't be concerned, these imbeciles mix the good stuff with so much
strong flavored crap you can literally feed them dog **** and they'd
think it's wonderful. If you're going to stuff 'shrooms with spicey
saw-seege and seasoned bread crumbs you'd be much wiser to use that
little green can. Parmagiano regianno is a table cheese anyway, it's
eaten pretty much plain with good crusty bread and a EVOO that you
like. The parmagianno regianno that's grated is so old and dried out
it's actually spoiled, grating is how it's salvaged, it's not really
much different from what's in that green can.

"Julie Bove" wrote:
>
>I have gotten Kraft for free using coupons. That doesn't happen very often.
>Have also gotten a similar store brand for free using a coupon. We don't
>use a lot of that stuff in this house, but yes, we do use it. So when I can
>get it for free, I donate it to the food bank unless we happen to need it.

A certain dwarf never buys grated parm, he lifts the cheese shaker off
the pizzaria table.

Brooklyn1 wrote:
> "Julie Bove" wrote:
>>
>> I have gotten Kraft for free using coupons. That doesn't happen
>> very often. Have also gotten a similar store brand for free using a
>> coupon. We don't use a lot of that stuff in this house, but yes, we
>> do use it. So when I can get it for free, I donate it to the food
>> bank unless we happen to need it.
>
> A certain dwarf never buys grated parm, he lifts the cheese shaker off
> the pizzaria table.

Oh my. I once had a BF who gave me crystal salt and pepper shakers, filled,
wrapped in a napkin. I was like... Really? He expected me to believe that
he bought them that way. Also once gave me a floral arrangement that looked
to have been stolen from a funeral. And a huge thing of makeup that looked
to be like a department store tester. All sorts of blushes, lip glosses and
eye shadows. He was a cop. And it was a short lived relationship.

On Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:58:04 -0700, Julie Bove wrote:

> Brooklyn1 wrote:
>
>> A certain dwarf never buys grated parm, he lifts the cheese shaker off
>> the pizzaria table.

Oh, that's right - Sheldon is one who said "Everybody buy pre-shredded
cheese". I have no use for pulverized, dried cheese products such as
Kraft. Taco Bell taco sauce is another story....

http://i41.tinypic.com/j7ddgh.jpg

> Oh my. I once had a BF who gave me crystal salt and pepper shakers, filled,
> wrapped in a napkin. I was like... Really? He expected me to believe that
> he bought them that way. Also once gave me a floral arrangement that looked
> to have been stolen from a funeral. And a huge thing of makeup that looked
> to be like a department store tester. All sorts of blushes, lip glosses and
> eye shadows. He was a cop. And it was a short lived relationship.

Sounds like a real charmer. Look him up and see if he's in prison for
raping girls that he arrested on false charges. He sounds the type.

-sw

merryb wrote:

>> I've had imported Parmesan before, but never the name brand stuff,
>> until today. My gosh it's good. I need to make some stuffed
>> mushrooms with it.

> Try Grana Padano- a little cheaper, but very similar.

Grana Padano can be very good indeed, and the same is true for grana
trentino, or trentingrana, one of the best grana around. One thing that many
do not know also here in Italy, is that Grana is the family which includes
Parmigiano Reggiano (PR-RE) among its members, thus PR-RE is just one kind
of Grana, along with grana padano and grana trentino. In the town of Lodi,
near Milano, the local grana padano is so peculiar that they are now calling
it "grana lodigiano" and have their own consorzio as do parmigiano reggiano
and the other grana production areas. Lodigiano is less pressed so it
remains moister, some zafferano is added too and it has a minimum aging of
24 months while for other grana cheeses the minimum is usually one year for
the so called "giovane" (young).
What makes parmigiano reggiano so important is a set of things: it has been
the first grana cheese ever made, to the point that the name "formaggio"
(and all its translations such as fromage) comes from the "forme" (kind of
"moulds") where it got shaped in, before PR-RE there was only "cacio" shaped
in straw-made "fascere". The production disciplinary of PR-RE is remained
the same since the first tracks of this cheese in history around AD 1100.
Moreover, it is one of the best in quality thanks to many local bovine
breeds (expecially reggiana rossa and modenese bianca) who give incredible
results and thanks to the hillside pastures. Another plus is that the
disciplinary forbids to feed fermented corn to the cows, thusly allowing the
use of milk and rennet only and no preserving agents since the fermented
corn is what makes other grana (as padano) explode unless they use
preserving agents.
Someone in sardegna started to use the technique of grana cheeses with goat
milk: Gransardo di Capra is a very interesting product. I once had a wedge
which was 14 months old, I didn't even believe goat cheese could stand such
an ageing time, and it was complex without being too stingy.

sqwishy snooted:

> I don't think I've ever bought domestic Parmesan and probably haven't
> eaten it since the Kraft of my childhood. Why would anybody eat
> crappy domestic parmesan?

A couple of months ago, you claimed you reguarly purchase Parmesan for
$4 per lb. Are you now claiming that's Reggiano, you compulsive liar?

On Wed, 12 Sep 2012 10:44:42 +0200, "ViLco" <[email protected]> wrote:

>merryb wrote:
>
>>> I've had imported Parmesan before, but never the name brand stuff,
>>> until today. My gosh it's good. I need to make some stuffed
>>> mushrooms with it.
>
>> Try Grana Padano- a little cheaper, but very similar.
>
>Grana Padano can be very good indeed, and the same is true for grana
>trentino, or trentingrana, one of the best grana around. One thing that many
>do not know also here in Italy, is that Grana is the family which includes
>Parmigiano Reggiano (PR-RE) among its members, thus PR-RE is just one kind
>of Grana, along with grana padano and grana trentino. In the town of Lodi,
>near Milano, the local grana padano is so peculiar that they are now calling
>it "grana lodigiano" and have their own consorzio as do parmigiano reggiano
>and the other grana production areas. Lodigiano is less pressed so it
>remains moister, some zafferano is added too and it has a minimum aging of
>24 months while for other grana cheeses the minimum is usually one year for
>the so called "giovane" (young).
>What makes parmigiano reggiano so important is a set of things: it has been
>the first grana cheese ever made, to the point that the name "formaggio"
>(and all its translations such as fromage) comes from the "forme" (kind of
>"moulds") where it got shaped in, before PR-RE there was only "cacio" shaped
>in straw-made "fascere". The production disciplinary of PR-RE is remained
>the same since the first tracks of this cheese in history around AD 1100.
>Moreover, it is one of the best in quality thanks to many local bovine
>breeds (expecially reggiana rossa and modenese bianca) who give incredible
>results and thanks to the hillside pastures. Another plus is that the
>disciplinary forbids to feed fermented corn to the cows, thusly allowing the
>use of milk and rennet only and no preserving agents since the fermented
>corn is what makes other grana (as padano) explode unless they use
>preserving agents.
>Someone in sardegna started to use the technique of grana cheeses with goat
>milk: Gransardo di Capra is a very interesting product. I once had a wedge
>which was 14 months old, I didn't even believe goat cheese could stand such
>an ageing time, and it was complex without being too stingy.
>
Thank you very much for that amount of information. I had no idea of
the relationships. I had thought that Grana Padano was the same as
Parmigiano Reggiano except for the producing region. I appreciate
the time you took to explain the cheeses.
Janet US

"ViLco" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:k2pi1r$a7b$[email protected]..
> merryb wrote:
>
>>> I've had imported Parmesan before, but never the name brand stuff,
>>> until today. My gosh it's good. I need to make some stuffed
>>> mushrooms with it.
>
>> Try Grana Padano- a little cheaper, but very similar.
>
> Grana Padano can be very good indeed, and the same is true for grana
> trentino, or trentingrana, one of the best grana around. One thing that
> many do not know also here in Italy, is that Grana is the family which
> includes Parmigiano Reggiano (PR-RE) among its members, thus PR-RE is just
> one kind of Grana, along with grana padano and grana trentino. In the town
> of Lodi, near Milano, the local grana padano is so peculiar that they are
> now calling it "grana lodigiano" and have their own consorzio as do
> parmigiano reggiano and the other grana production areas. Lodigiano is
> less pressed so it remains moister, some zafferano is added too and it has
> a minimum aging of 24 months while for other grana cheeses the minimum is
> usually one year for the so called "giovane" (young).
> What makes parmigiano reggiano so important is a set of things: it has
> been the first grana cheese ever made, to the point that the name
> "formaggio" (and all its translations such as fromage) comes from the
> "forme" (kind of "moulds") where it got shaped in, before PR-RE there was
> only "cacio" shaped in straw-made "fascere". The production disciplinary
> of PR-RE is remained the same since the first tracks of this cheese in
> history around AD 1100. Moreover, it is one of the best in quality thanks
> to many local bovine breeds (expecially reggiana rossa and modenese
> bianca) who give incredible results and thanks to the hillside pastures.
> Another plus is that the disciplinary forbids to feed fermented corn to
> the cows, thusly allowing the use of milk and rennet only and no
> preserving agents since the fermented corn is what makes other grana (as
> padano) explode unless they use preserving agents.
> Someone in sardegna started to use the technique of grana cheeses with
> goat milk: Gransardo di Capra is a very interesting product. I once had a
> wedge which was 14 months old, I didn't even believe goat cheese could
> stand such an ageing time, and it was complex without being too stingy.

Thank you, that is a tremendous history of the grana cheeses. I have
never heard of the Lodigiano and Zafferano, and you point out some
very interesting differences in the various cheeses.

I have also never seen the Gransardo di Capra, although I've had
Peccorino Sardo, of course a sheep's milk aged and hard cheese.
In case you have any interest, the Cypress Grove cheese company
makes a nice variety of aged, ripened and fresh chevre and goat
cheeses in the US, although a couple of their bigger cheeses are
imported from Europe. Excellent quality all around, particularly
noteworthy are their Humboldt Fog and the Midnight Moon which
is released at 6 months ageing and can stand a fair bit more.
http://www.cypressgrovechevre.com/cheeses.html

pavane

On Sep 12, 1:44*am, "ViLco" <villi...@tin.it> wrote:
> merryb wrote:
> >> I've had imported Parmesan before, but never the name brand stuff,
> >> until today. My gosh it's good. I need to make some stuffed
> >> mushrooms with it.
> > Try Grana Padano- a little cheaper, but very similar.
>
> Grana Padano can be very good indeed, and the same is true for grana
> trentino, or trentingrana, one of the best grana around. One thing that many
> do not know also here in Italy, is that Grana is the family which includes
> Parmigiano Reggiano (PR-RE) among its members, thus PR-RE is just one kind
> of Grana, along with grana padano and grana trentino. In the town of Lodi,
> near Milano, the local grana padano is so peculiar that they are now calling
> it "grana lodigiano" and have their own consorzio as do parmigiano reggiano
> and the other grana production areas. Lodigiano is less pressed so it
> remains moister, some zafferano is added too and it has a minimum aging of
> 24 months while for other grana cheeses the minimum is usually one year for
> the so called "giovane" (young).
> What makes parmigiano reggiano so important is a set of things: it has been
> the first grana cheese ever made, to the point that the name "formaggio"
> (and all its translations such as fromage) comes from the "forme" (kind of
> "moulds") where it got shaped in, before PR-RE there was only "cacio" shaped
> in straw-made "fascere". The production disciplinary of PR-RE is remained
> the same since the first tracks of this cheese in history around AD 1100.
> Moreover, it is one of the best in quality thanks to many local bovine
> breeds (expecially reggiana rossa and modenese bianca) who give incredible
> results and thanks to the hillside pastures. Another plus is that the
> disciplinary forbids to feed fermented corn to the cows, thusly allowing the
> use of milk and rennet only and no preserving agents since the fermented
> corn is what makes other grana (as padano) explode unless they use
> preserving agents.
> Someone in sardegna started to use the technique of grana cheeses with goat
> milk: Gransardo di Capra is a very interesting product. I once had a wedge
> which was 14 months old, I didn't even believe goat cheese could stand such
> an ageing time, and it was complex without being too stingy.

Wow- thanks for your informative post!