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Parmigiano-Reggiano: Italy's 'practically perfect' food

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Re: Parmigiano-Reggiano: Italy's 'practically perfect' food

#91

Post by Fins »

luckydata wrote: post #74
Kurtz79 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried the actual cheeses he mentions?

Yes, but I didn't need to. American producer aren't up to snuff at the moment. Belgioioso is an italian brand BTW, I used to sell it in my family's store back in Italy, we used to own a high end deli and know quite a bit about Italian food and specifically about cheese, at 15 I was the "product manager" for parent's store. Ask me anything :)

There are some very good cheese makers in the States (e.g. Prairie Fruit). But of course they have enough decency not to call their stuff "Parmesan" when it isn't.

Re: Parmigiano-Reggiano: Italy's 'practically perfect' food

#92

Post by atombender »

luckydata wrote: post #74
Kurtz79 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried the actual cheeses he mentions?

Yes, but I didn't need to. American producer aren't up to snuff at the moment. Belgioioso is an italian brand BTW, I used to sell it in my family's store back in Italy, we used to own a high end deli and know quite a bit about Italian food and specifically about cheese, at 15 I was the "product manager" for parent's store. Ask me anything :)

BelGioioso is absolutely an American brand [1]. It was admittedly founded by an Italian immigrant and run by "Italian master cheesemakers", but all cheese production happens in Wisconsin, using American dairy and workers.

[1] https://www.belgioioso.com/Secret

Re: Parmigiano-Reggiano: Italy's 'practically perfect' food

#93

Post by ukoki »

masklinn wrote: post #86
rayiner wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I take coffee from our fancy machine and dump ice cubes in to cool it down.

That's close to the japanese iced coffee method: make the coffee twice as strong as you want it, then pour fresh coffee straight onto equal volume of ice cubes (you can drip pour-overs straight in ice). Super easy and makes for pretty good iced coffee in summer.

Or a Spanish "cafe con hielo": An espresso served alongside a tumbler of ice cubes.

Re: Parmigiano-Reggiano: Italy's 'practically perfect' food

#94

Post by QuercusMax »

masklinn wrote: post #86
rayiner wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I take coffee from our fancy machine and dump ice cubes in to cool it down.

That's close to the japanese iced coffee method: make the coffee twice as strong as you want it, then pour fresh coffee straight onto equal volume of ice cubes (you can drip pour-overs straight in ice). Super easy and makes for pretty good iced coffee in summer.

That's what I do to make iced coffee - strong aeropress directly onto a glass full of ice. Add a splash of milk if you like, and it's heavenly.

Re: Parmigiano-Reggiano: Italy's 'practically perfect' food

#95

Post by pmontra »

phaus wrote: post #72
Brakenshire wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not everyone needs Parmagiano-Reggiano. You can buy parmesan to put on your microwaved pasta and it will be Very Good(TM). I was served something marked as 'Gruyere' in the US, and it was a bright white, liquid-paste-like substance which oozed out of a foil triangle, basically a generic processed cheese product unrelated to Gruyere. So if you buy something marked as Parmesan, presumably, it could be almost anything…

I've never seen parmesan packaged in anything that wasn't transparent or completely clear. If you buy a block of parmesan that doesn't seem to actually be parmesan its probably your fault. Some cheeses like the one you mentioned, I can see a need for caution, but I can generally look at a block of parmesan and tell whether its going to be great or mediocre.

It doesn't matter if the package is transparent or not. If the name is not Parmigiano-Reggiano it's something else. No doubt it's edible, but not the cheese you want if you went out to buy Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Re: Parmigiano-Reggiano: Italy's 'practically perfect' food

#96

Post by michrassena »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #3

>Few of these fans would recognise much of what’s sold today. The white flakes many of us grew up shaking from a green can aren’t parmesan, not even close. Within the EU, both Parmigiano-Reggiano and its anglicised version, “parmesan”, are legally registered terms protected by the PDO – protected designation of origin – label since 1996. But in the US, the law protects only the name “Parmigiano-Reggiano” (In the EU,…

As someone who buys and enjoys the Costco Parmiagiano-Reggiano (PR) and who has eaten both it and the green can version in the last couple of weeks, I think it's a shame that people would be misled into thinking the green can version is anything like Parmesan cheese. PR has rich umami flavor that as someone who grew up on the green can kind, I can only feel a bit ripped off by what I was missing all those years.

PDO can be problematic, especially when there is terroir which can only be used by a limited number of companies who are granted the mark. It's still a mark I look for, now that I know better. In many ways it acts the same as trademark, ensuring that the purchaser gets the real article. There's no reason to believe that the best example of a product comes with a PDO, but it is at least a very high minimum standard.

Re: Parmigiano-Reggiano: Italy's 'practically perfect' food

#97

Post by basch »

saiya-jin wrote: post #28
eyko wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone needs Parmagiano-Reggiano. You can buy parmesan to put on your microwaved pasta and it will be Very Good(TM). No need to waste good quality DOP on that. As with all cheeses, "parmesan" labeled cheeses will also vary in quality. Go for what your wallet + taste buds tell you to pick. There really are good quality "parmesan" brands out there. Maybe not the cheapest stuff in your grocery store, but as long a…

That might be all nice and true, but then why the desperate need from manufacturers to appear as close as original as possible to trick and lure some unknowing shoppers? If you make a copy, and you are proud how good it is, make it clear and add what makes yours so special. The discussion it seems is more about cheaper knock-offs that many people don't distinguish from original because they don't know exact words in…

Parmesan is a generic word in America. It's a word to describe a family of hard cheeses, usually ground by Kraft.

Im not sure if every times a brand describes a cheese as Parmesan they are trying to be misleading or trick people into thinking its from Europe, they are just describing it in a way that aligns with Americans expectations.

Re: Parmigiano-Reggiano: Italy's 'practically perfect' food

#98

Post by jriot »

eyko wrote: post #13
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #3

>Few of these fans would recognise much of what’s sold today. The white flakes many of us grew up shaking from a green can aren’t parmesan, not even close. Within the EU, both Parmigiano-Reggiano and its anglicised version, “parmesan”, are legally registered terms protected by the PDO – protected designation of origin – label since 1996. But in the US, the law protects only the name “Parmigiano-Reggiano” (In the EU,…

Not everyone needs Parmagiano-Reggiano. You can buy parmesan to put on your microwaved pasta and it will be Very Good(TM). No need to waste good quality DOP on that. As with all cheeses, "parmesan" labeled cheeses will also vary in quality. Go for what your wallet + taste buds tell you to pick. There really are good quality "parmesan" brands out there. Maybe not the cheapest stuff in your grocery store, but as long a…

Sure if you're microwaving pasta, not sure why you would do that, you don't need Parmigiano-Reggiano, but why subject yourself to poor quality food.

Re: Parmigiano-Reggiano: Italy's 'practically perfect' food

#99

Post by coldtea »

eyko wrote: post #13
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #3

>Few of these fans would recognise much of what’s sold today. The white flakes many of us grew up shaking from a green can aren’t parmesan, not even close. Within the EU, both Parmigiano-Reggiano and its anglicised version, “parmesan”, are legally registered terms protected by the PDO – protected designation of origin – label since 1996. But in the US, the law protects only the name “Parmigiano-Reggiano” (In the EU,…

Not everyone needs Parmagiano-Reggiano. You can buy parmesan to put on your microwaved pasta and it will be Very Good(TM). No need to waste good quality DOP on that. As with all cheeses, "parmesan" labeled cheeses will also vary in quality. Go for what your wallet + taste buds tell you to pick. There really are good quality "parmesan" brands out there. Maybe not the cheapest stuff in your grocery store, but as long a…

>Not everyone needs Parmagiano-Reggiano. You can buy parmesan to put on your microwaved pasta and it will be Very Good(TM).

The above phrase would be considered akin to hate speech in Italy.

Re: Parmigiano-Reggiano: Italy's 'practically perfect' food

#100

Post by rayiner »

masklinn wrote: post #86
rayiner wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I take coffee from our fancy machine and dump ice cubes in to cool it down.

That's close to the japanese iced coffee method: make the coffee twice as strong as you want it, then pour fresh coffee straight onto equal volume of ice cubes (you can drip pour-overs straight in ice). Super easy and makes for pretty good iced coffee in summer.

Except I make it regular strength and water it down because fancy coffee tastes too much like coffee.
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