Once and for all: Parmesan etiquette
Let’s be honest, you mainly eat pasta because you have something to cover in mountains of Parmesan. But how much cheese do you put on your pasta, and are there also pastas you don’t eat it with? This is my entirely subjective etiquette guide to using Parmesan.
Which grater?
You might think a grater is a grater, but nothing could be further from the truth. Most graters produce long strands (see photo below), but I want ‘airy’ cheese. For me, the Microplane (this one, to be precise) really produces the very best grated cheese. You should definitely have one. Citrus zest, garlic, ginger, chocolate, nutmeg—I put everything through the Microplane. #nospon
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- Kaas met doorsnee rasp
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- Kaas met Microplane
Do I really have to grate it myself?
Yes. Pre-grated Parmesan makes absolutely no sense. The stuff in a red container doesn’t even look like cheese. The flakes you can buy at the supermarket are fine on a salad, but with your pasta you don’t want flakes—you want grated cheese that becomes one with the pasta. Grate your cheese just before or during dinner. Otherwise it dries out and you’ll still end up chewing on cardboard. Such a waste. And also check whether you bought real Parmesan (here’s how to recognize it).
Fish = no cheese!
Okay, this one is absolutely not subjective. This is a hard-and-fast rule, and if you break it, you’ll end up in hell. On pasta with fish or shellfish, such as Roberto’s spaghetti with vongole, there is never, I repeat never, any cheese. Black pasta with squid and rocket? Leave that cheese happily in the fridge—as long as it stays far, far away from your plate. Fish and cheese is a faux pas, and there’s a reason for that.
Layering
I very often see people throw all the Parmesan over their pasta at the start of the meal and then stir everything together. I’ve never understood this. All the cheese melts, and you can barely taste it anymore! No, this is how it should be: grate a layer of cheese over the top of the pasta so that you get cheese with every bite. The cheese will partly melt, but you’ll still taste the texture of the cheese too. That’s what you want. Is the cheese gone? Grate some more and repeat until all the pasta is gone for the ultimate pasta-to-cheese ratio.
