If Marinara is the king of Pasta Sauces, freshly grated Parmesan is the king of Italian cheeses. But there’s a huge demand and a relatively small supply… Most of us can’t help but be taken in by fraudsters pushing fake Parmesan…
Learn to read the rind! Real, premium Parmigiano Reggiano will say so on the rind – and
every wedge will have enough rind that you can read its pedigree right there.
It’s one of the major aggravations of cheece lovers the world over. And one that usually has a dis-appointing outcome. The demand for real Parmesan – Parmigiano Reggiano from northern Italy – is so large and the supply of the real deal so small that the majority of ‘Parm’ on the market globally these days is fake…
What’s the deal?
“Parmigiano Reggiano, is one of the most counterfeited cheeses in the world, with about $2 billion worth of fakes accounted for in just one year, according to the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium,” The Guardian reports.
Italian and EU commercial law stipulates that genuine Parmigiano Reggiano, “must come from one of five regions in Italy – Parma, Modena, Bologna, Mantua or Reggio Emilia – and adhere to strict stand-ards as it relates to ingredients, production methods and aging. ,” CNET explains.
‘Bad’ literally outweighs ‘good’
But there are millions of pounds / kg of other cheese out there calling itself ‘Parmigiano’ or ‘Parme-san’ or something similar that’s not the real deal, The problem is, the fakes are often priced right up there with the genuine article. And that not just fraud – it’s become a big-time organized crime.
So bad has the problem become, CNET insists, “For starters, anything marketed as Parmesan in the US is almost definitely not Parmigiano Reggiano, aka the good stuff.”
So how do you tell?
First of all… If you buy your ‘Parm’ pre-grated, under any name, it’s almost certainly not real Parmi-giano. And even if it’s stamped ‘Product of Italy’, it’s probably not legit, either.
The simple truth is, unless the rind of the cheese is tattooed with the words Parmigiano Reggiano, it’s most likely a pretender. And you’re not getting your money’s worth.
Real Parmigiano Reggiano is made in wheels weighing 70 – 80 lb. / about 35 kg. Each of those carries the Parmigiano Reggiano ‘brand’, plus a unique alphanumeric tracking code.
At some point, as the cheese moves up the supply chain the wheel gets split into smaller pieces. These chunks are generally wedge-shaped, each preserving a small portion of the original wheel’s ‘brand tattoo’ – thus, a small part of its ID stamp. And the tracking code should also appear on the fragment’s label.
My take
I also have a rule I live by when buying ‘special’ (as opposed to ‘every-day’) cheese. I have several cheese shops I trust, here in my town. One is actually an importer, and the staff are fiercely proud of their reputation for quality and authenticity.
The other two are similarly careful of their images. This gives me confidence that I’m getting the real deal on those rare occasions when I shell out big bucks. But so does their encyclopedic knowledge of the stuff they sell. And in some cases their knowledge is something you can’t put a price on!
The truth is, for everyday topping of Italian dishes or other grated-cheese applications, any good-quality hard cheese you can get en bloc at a trusted shop is probably going to be more than ade-quate. My go-to importer will also grind it in-store under my gaze at no extra charge if I ask nicely!
So go forth, and buy your Italian cheese – with guarded optimism…
~ Maggie J.