The Cheese Tour

While in Parma we had to play the role of true tourists and do the Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese tour. It ended up being one of the highlights of our trip, and to top it off it was all free!

We arrived by taxi to the cheese consortium just on the outskirts of the city. It's called a consortium because it's not really a factory. The cheese is handmade every day, and they only do a small amount each day to ensure quality and consistency. We also learned that the "cheese master" is a very demanding job. He trains nearly his whole life (this particular cheese master has been in his position for 40 some odd years) and they work every single day of their life, holidays included. The cheese production never stops!

The employees of the consortium, including the cheese master, are responsible for every aspect of the cheese making. From milking the cows to checking the aging cheeses for imperfections, they do it all.

So, on our tour we got to watch the cheese making process from beginning to end, and it was very interesting to learn all that goes into this centuries-old process. We learned that they do not know when or by whom this process was created, but they do know that if they vary it in any small matter they do not get the same cheese. For example, the cheese makers were asked to wear latex gloves for hygenic purposes, and they found that without feeling the curds with their bare fingers they could not correctly tell when the cheese was finished cooking, and so the gloves were done away with.

They also have a tradition of using equal proportions of last night's milk and the morning's milk, which if changed also changes the outcome of their cheese. They showed us some of the differences in sound quality when they tap the aging cheese wheels, and it's amazing the ability they have to carefully discern the slightest variance in sound.

It was a really fun experience and one we would eagerly reccomend to anyone travelling to northern Italy. You will walk away with a great appreciation for the tradition of this cheese, and some samples to boot!