This recipe for parmesan crisps has one ingredient and one instruction. However, its value is ten times that. Have you ever considered making your own parmesan?
Perhaps you’ve gasped slightly, thinking I’m about to inform you how I stomp my own grapes, milk my own cows, grow my own goats, and ferment my own cheese? Sadly, no. But I thought parmesan was worth exploring further. So I turned to the experts.
Parmigiano Reggiano is a fascinating, informative, loving look at making of the famous cheese. They are quite rightly proud. Discoveries:
- Parmigiano Reggiano comes from clearly happy cows dining on local forage on farms from Parma, Reggio, Emilia, Modena and Bologna in Italy (“left of the Reno river”) and Mantua “right of the Po river”.
- After 12 months, a cheese wheel is quality-assessed to see if it’s “worthy of the name it was given at its birth“. If it is, it can go on to mature further, possibly 40 months or more.
- There are three cheese categories (first, medium and de-rinded) depending on quality. De-rinded gets demoted and can’t be called Parmigiano Reggiano [poor de-rinded 😢]
- Monks in the Middle Ages were the first to develop parmigiano in large wheels using salt from the Salsomaggiore salt mines. Today, the production method – natural, no additives – is the same as it was in the Middle Ages, though there’ve been innovations.
- You can visit and taste and book a guided tour!
Differences between Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano
| Parmigiano Reggiano | Grana Padano |
| no additives, not even natural ones | allows natural additive lysozyme |
| production localised to areas above | production in 33 provinces |
| cows only fed hay and grass | cows allowed silage in feed |
| minimum maturation 12 months (average 24 months) | minimum maturation 9 months (eaten at 15 months) |
| natural fermented whey for bacterial starter | allows use of lactic bacteria |
| quality control inspections on every wheel | quality control only on selected wheels |
| Source |
” Gromit, that’s it! Cheese! We’ll go somewhere where there’s cheese!”
-Wallace, Wallace & Gromit, “A Grand Day Out” (1989).
Writers: Nick Park, Steve Rushton. Director Nick Park
Parmesan Crisps
Moo-tiful
Ingredients
- grated parmesan, as much as you want or need
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200℃/392℉.
- Place baking sheet on baking tray. Sprinkle on parmesan in whatever size shape you want, remembering that it will spread, and you don’t want the crisps to touch. Ensure there’s not too much parmesan per shape, otherwise it will just be melty without the lattice-pattern you’re looking for.
- Bake for about five minutes or until golden. Keep an eye on them.
- Remove and allow to cool and crisp up. Use on top of a salad or anywhere you’d normally sprinkle a little parmesan. Can be a snack on its own. Store in an air-tight container for a day or two.
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