From my small point here north, I notice that the Norwegians, with the rest of the world, may have taken Parmigiano Regiano to the heart. Aka Parmesan, a French name by the way. We can not get enough of it. Personally, I support Swiss Springs more, but it is only manufactured in precise quantities, and most of them are consumed locally. The small part that is exported, goes to Italy, of course. I think most of us approach the way Italians use cheese, for daily use. Most Italians have some exact copies for ceremonial use, such as Sundays. We mostly do not. The reason for this is ignorance and availability.

I love to be careful; so there is Parmigiano Reggiano, then there is Parmigiano Reggiano. What is the difference?

What's all this with Parmigiano Regiano?

Depends on your view of course and your interest in originality. This cheese has become a huge, wise coward, sold all over the world. This of course also presents some challenges. The artisan cheese it was before, along the way when it started, you have to look carefully to find it. Most cheese today comes from large dairy. There should be nothing wrong with that, though. However, the rule seems to be that the more players, the more willing they are, and spending huge resources on changing the rules in their favor. Just mention Camembert. But this has also happened to Parmigiano Reggiano, long before the Camembert case. According to Cheese 2017, very few additives are allowed in cheese making because large players find it useful, not allowed early and are not used by small dairy. But this is not my concern with this post. I want to talk about milk is a fairly important factor when it comes to making cheese. It's hard to make good cheese from bad milk, but of course you can make bad cheese from good milk. There are many different breeds, all of which are unique. Of course, of course. Some provide very suitable milk for making cheese, while others do not necessarily provide the same bond.

Vacca Bianca Modenese og Vacca Rosso

Earlier, Parmesan was made with milk from these two strains. I do not say at all, because it is a cheese with a long history, but there is a mention of Vaca Russo about 1000 years ago. The Benedictine monks used milk of this type to make Parmigiano Regiano. The eggs appeared later, through crossbreeding;

At least that is the view. In fact, these two varieties were perfectly suited to provide yogurt to making Parmigiano Regiano, and cheese generally for this purpose. This is related to the protein / fat ratio, which is important when it comes to making cheese and milk that is most suitable for making cheese. For these two strains, the content of kapa proteins in their milk is particularly high, according to Slow Food. It is a good thing. And? To this day, there are only relatively small herds remaining from these two courses. But they, or some of them, are working hard to increase them. Do not mix the milk of these two varieties to make cheese, either it or not. Then you have Vacca Bianco Mondenese Parmigiano Reggiano from the Modena area and Vacca Rosso Parmigiano Reggiano from the Reggio-Emilia area.

So what is the problem?

Large demand attracts large participants who demand a lot of milk to manage their operations. Vacca Bianca Modenese and Vacca Rosso are very few and the production of both is very low for the adult players. So they pushed forward Holten Freesense. It has a huge production. Most breeds have an annual maximum, if you feed them more believing that you can get more milk from them, then you are mistaken. They only get fat from this excess nutrition. Not so with Holstein Frisian. The more you feed them the more milk you get. In contrast you get what is commonly called "white water". It is generally accepted that the milk quality of Holstein Friesian is worse than other breeds. This does not prevent much use of milk from this Dutch variety in the cheese industry, although it is better suited for milk consumption. Holstein Frisian looks like a machine.

Optimal milk

From this we can learn that the most Parmigiano Reggiano we consume comes from optimal milk, carefully crafted. All about the "milking market". This is of course a familiar driving force. It brings us back to Parmigiano Regiano as a daily cheese, although good for grilling food. Cheese comes for those special occasions from Vacca Bianca Modenese and Vacca Rosso. It is fairly rare, but it is probably easier to get the Vacca Rosso cheese. If the milk comes from any of the strain, it is on the label, do not be afraid. This is the exclusive way.