Don't Be Fooled! The Tasty Truth about Parmesan Cheese

DONT BE FOOLED! The Tasty TRUTH EGO about Parmesan Cheese Parmigiano Reggiano® is the world's most famous and most imitated cheese. The fact is, most of what people think they know about Parmesan cheese is flat out wrong! Check the facts below and test your foodie knowledge. Myth: Parmesan cheese can be made anywhere in the world. Don't be fooled! There's only one Parmesan cheese and it's from the Fact: geographical area of Parma and Reggio Emilia, Italy. No cheese in Europe can call itself Parmesan unless it comes from this region and conforms to the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) standards. Myth: • Don't eat cheese or other dairy products before running because it can cause cramping. Parmigiano Reggiano is an all-natural Italian power food! Fact: Italian athletes – including cyclists, mountain climbers, or marathoners - all have been known to get a boost mid-course by munching on nuggets of Parmesan cheese. One ounce of the cheese is 20% of your day's requirement of protein and is the mutritional equivalent of a 12-ounce glass of milk! Myth: Parmigiano-Reggiano should be stored in the paper from the cheese shop or parchment paper so it can breathe. Fact: While some cheeses may like to breathe, Parmigiano Reggiano is not one of them. Skip the parchment paper and store your cheese in one tight layer of plastic wrap. Every time you use the cheese, try to make sure that the piece is nice and regularly shaped before rewrapping tightly in fresh plastic wrap. (P.S. Refrigerate only. Don't ever freeze your Parmigiano Reggiano cheese!) Who made my cheese? Artists sign their work and Parmigiano-Reggiano is one of the few signed cheeses in the world. Look at the top number of the vertical information panel on the side of the wheel. Here you'll find a numeric code that corresponds to one of the 382 Parmigiano-Reggiano producers. Check the Code O Look for these numbers to learn which Italian Province your wheel came from. PARMA REGGIO- MODENA 2001-2500 EMILIA 1004-1500 and 3001-3500 and 2500-2999 101-999 PARMA MANTUA BOLOGNA (west of the Reno River) 3510-3700 (east of the Po River) MODE 1506-1999 REGGIO-E SOLOGNA A Cheese for Every Season Look for the production month and year at the bottom of the vertical information panel on the wheel. The first three letters of the month are stamped on the wheel in Italian. The two digits following that signify the year of production. Winter Cheese fruity, lactic) Summer Cheese (toasted, meaty) GENnaio-January LUGlio-July AGOsto-August SETtembre-September FEBraio-February MARZO-March Spring Cheese (herbal, floral) Fall Cheese (wutty, caramelized) OTTobre-October APRile-April MAGgio-May GIUgno-June NOVembre-November DICember-December Who cuts the cheese? Everyone does when they have the right tools! Actually, Parmigiano-Reggiano is not cut; it's split like a diamond. Its unique crystalline structure is revealed when the wheel is wedged apart using special blades. With practice you can cut this cheese in a way that would make Michelangelo proud! THE UNLI PARMESAN About Parmesan.Com Visit Parmesan.com for cooking inspiration from around the world and learn why Parmigiano Reggiano is the King of Cheeses.