Parmigiano Reggiano

[allie]

Ok, I splurged on some cheese! I don't know if this is a good brand or not but figured someone here might know. lol Les about choked when he was helping me put groceries away and saw what I spent on a little bit of cheese. With a budget of about $100 give or take $20-30 per week, he thought it was a bit overboard. I just want to try a better product than the green can. lol

Zanelli Grassi Parmigiano Reggiano Aged over 18 months
It says it's a product of Italy. I paid $6.12 for .35 lbs at $17.49 per pound. Hopefully, it's good! I plan to use it tonight in making my first ever alfredo!

[Cat Man]

Parmasean Reggianno can only be made along the Po River Valley in Italy, near Florence.
The government inspects every single wheel (only after 2 years aging minimum) with a rubber mallet to check for defects and only then is each single wheel approved for sale as PR. It is branded as such.

Any wheel found with defects instantly gets a branding of 3 X's and cannot be sold as PR. It usually ends up in local markets or sent off for shredding. Too many of these and the head cheesemaster gets fired.
Remember, they have to sit on the made cheese for 2 years before they can even offer it for sale as PR, so you can't afford to lose too many wheels.

Aged more than 1 year but less than 2, it's commonly known as Stravecchia, still a great cheese but not quite as sharp.

I've toured several cheese plants in Italy and the passion and pride these cheesemakers have is unreal.

A large commercial user of PR in this country is paying about $8/lb right now, up from $6 just two years ago (weak US $)

Since you bought a little chunk at retail, I bet you paid close to $14/lb.

Enjoy it but don't waste any.

Cat Man

[Cat Man]

Allie
Sorry, I didn't see the bottom of your post where you paid over $17/lb.

Ouch! That gives you an idea what they marked it up at least.

Cat Man

[allie]

Yeah, it was a bit expensive for my normal budget! We had it in an alfredo last night and it was much better than the cheap stuff. lol I only needed about 1/3 cup or so and there is still a good bit left! I can't wait to use it on something else! I also bought a 10 oz hunk of Asiago. It was pretty cheap at $1.99 but was so, so much better than the pre-shredded stuff I've tried.

Thank you for your information! Now I know more what to look for in the future. The store where I got it, actually has a lot of things I can't find elsewhere....like tahini which I had looked for over the past 6 months or so and lots of different cheeses. They are being bought out by Kroger and will change hands on June 11th. Right now, they are reducing a lot of cheese and other perishables. If the sell by date is up within two weeks of June 11, Kroger won't take the product or if they have less than a case in storage. I plan to go back and see what I can luck up on before the merger. The associate I spoke with said they promised not to change things. I just have a sneaky feeling that promise won't stand! I hope it does because while I can't buy all my groceries there, it's nice to have one store within 20 miles that does carry the items it seems the majority of the population doesn't use! Otherwise, I have to drive 45 miles plus!

[KYHeirloomer]

Allie, if you've got a few bucks to play with, talk to the department manager, rather than a sales associate. The manager can make deals, and is likely to do so in order to get rid of stuff before the takeover.

Both Asiago and Parma Reggiano keep two days longer than forever in the fridge. Unbroken wheels can be kept at room temp almost as long. So stocking up ain't a bad idea of the price is right.

However, on the Asiago, at a buck ninety nine I reckon it was imported from Wisconsin.

[allie]

Tahnks for the advice! I was planning to go back a little closer to June 11 and see what's still available. They put orange reduced stickers on all merchandise that needs to be cleared so it's easy to find. Then I can talk to the manager as well.

The asiago is Maplewood Farms. I knew when I saw the price that it wasn't the best on the market but wanted to try it anyway. lol It was still better than the pre-shredded stuff. Hopefully, I can find some good deals on a better product!

[indianwells]

Any cheese is better in a chunk than pre-shredded IMO. Pre-grated Parm is disgusting!

[KYHeirloomer]

Couldn't agree more, Indianwells.

Also, for folks new to it, like Allie, freshly grated takes up more volume than the pre-grated stuff. Which means you have to use more of it to get the same flavor/effect.

When a recipe give you both volume and weight measurments, be sure and use the weight when grating your own---particularly if using a micro-plane.

[allie]

The recipe I used didn't give a weight. You're right! It did need more and that is what Les told me when he tasted it. I know that next time I need to probably use double what the recipe called for but this was still pretty good.

I don't have a microplane but used the grater end with the really small holes. It's one of those that has the big holes on top, then the slicer, then the small holes at the bottom. It works pretty well for grating cheeses and zesting a lemon. I have been thinking I need a microplane! lol

[bluezebra]

Hi Allie, congrats on moving up the taste ladder! Isn't it amazing when you try new things and purer forms of things you've been eating your whole life? I remember as a kid dad would get "the good stuff" when he was making his famed Spaghetti and Meatballs but the rest of the time we had the green can lol! That was in the 60's when we thought it was called "Par-meeeeee-see-ann" Cheese lol. And I still remember the taste difference to this day. Weird huh?!

Anyways on the microplane: It's one of the best purchases I've ever made. I use it every day. I grate hard cheeses on it. I also grate things like zests, fresh ginger, carrots when I need small fine quantities, chocolate, nutmeg, and even garlic when i'm being lazy and doing ginger for quick stir frys. I have a long thin one and a wider one that will grate bi-directionally. My hubby likes the wider one but I love the strength of the long thin one!

Hope you get to get one. I think you will love it! Happy cooking!

[shel]

Originally Posted by bluezebra

Anyways on the microplane: It's one of the best purchases I've ever made. I use it every day. I grate hard cheeses on it. I also grate things like zests, fresh ginger, carrots when I need small fine quantities, chocolate, nutmeg, and even garlic when i'm being lazy and doing ginger for quick stir frys. I have a long thin one and a wider one that will grate bi-directionally. My hubby likes the wider one but I love the strength of the long thin one!

I agree 100%. I have the long, thin one - medium grate, I believe - and use it more often than anticipated. It's a "grate" kitchen tool.

Shel

[KYHeirloomer]

Allie, a micro-plane is one of those things you have absolutely no need for. Until you use one for the first time. And then you wonder how you ever got along without it.

Don't know how your grater works, but with a micro-plane doubling the volume of cheese won't do it. You get a big, fluffy pile. I would say, at a minimum, you have to quadruple the volume measurement. And it's probably more than that.

Blue: How do you clean the one that cuts bi-directionally?

[bluezebra]

KYHeirloomer you know I only "wersh" mine in the dishwasher after grating raw chicken or other poultry with it! bwahahahahaha! (sorry little joke all)

LOL KYH I just run it under hot water after using it with a bit of dish soap and run a cloth over it perpendicular to the grater so that it doesn't cut at the cloth lol. Works fine. But I do rinse it first in cold water to get any cheese out that might be stuck to it.

[MattFin]

Indeed, it is great that you have moved away from the nasty green can on to the brighter pastures of the real stuff. I don't allow the green can in my house. I am Italian, so perhaps that is why, but when my girlfriend (now wife) moved in, and brought her stuff, we were un packing and I pulled out a can of the pre-grated crap from her things. I didn't even make a motion towards the fridge, and I threw it straight in the trash.

She couldn't understand why I did such a thing until I made her pasta with the real stuff. She is a convert now as well.

Anyway, one more point about buying/grating blocks of PR, be sure to buy a piece with the rind on. That way you can be sure by the "pinpoint font" that it is in fact PR, and secondly, if you are always grating from the side oppostie the rind, you are always grating from the freshest side of the cheese, right?...

Also, the rind can be used in soups or grated in your cuisinart for use in breads, so there is no waste.

Welcome to the world of the best cheese in the world. You will never go back to the green can now that you have tatsed of this heavenly cheese, I promise you!

[DevilNuts]

I still use the green can on occasion. I am thinking I need to change my ways.

How much do micrograters cost? Anyone?