How to recognize real Parmesan cheese
The shop is full of cheeses to grate over your pasta, but how do you know whether you’ve got real Parmesan cheese? It’s not always easy to tell, but this is what you should look out for.
Certification mark
To make sure you buy real parmigiano reggiano, look for the Protected Designation of Origin certification mark (B.O.B. or D.O.P. in Italian). Cheeses with this certification mark are made according to a traditional recipe and produced in Italy. If you’re looking for real Parmesan cheese in the supermarket, choose a brand with the D.O.P. certification mark, such as Galbani and Zanetti.
Fake
Keuringsdienst van Waarde discovered that the bags of Parrano in the supermarket are full of fake parmigiano reggiano. The cheese shavings are made from Dutch cheese with added ingredients to create the Italian flavour. The cheese is matured for twenty weeks and, according to the makers, is ‘more suitable’ for the Dutch kitchen because it melts better than hard Italian cheeses.
Real Italian parmigiano reggiano is matured for at least twelve months. For the grated version, the rind is grated along with it so that the cheese doesn’t become too soft. In any case, we recommend leaving pre-grated cheese on the shelf, ugh. When the cheesemakers in Italy take a bite of Parrano’s fake cheese, they react with: ‘This is fake. Not real Italian cheese.’
Read also:
