How do you Parmesan?

[imec]

Do you buy it ready grated (the dreaded "green tube"), freshly grated or in a big chunk? Do you grate it coarse? Fine? With a box grater? A rotary grater? Grind it in a food processor?

I've traditionally been a box grater kind of guy or sometimes a micro-plane. When in Paris, I was served some lovely pappardele with cream and truffle and the parmesan (actually grana padano I think) was shaved into flakes about 1" by 2" - I really like it this way - it's somehow more flavorful.

[Deleted]

I will confess that I usually buy it pre-grated. Here it comes in little bags rather than in the green cylinder. Of course, everybody knows that the green cylinder is not authentic parmesan from Parma but a counterfeit product. Neverthless, I have no quarrel with that product and have happily used it many times in the past.

My parents always used a flat grater, but I like my little rotary grater, and that's what I used tonight.

[lagatta]

I love the microplane - whether curls or flakes - the flakes are very tasty but don't go with all recipes - more something like pappardele with cream and (yum) truffle than with spaghettini or vermicelli. Imec, did they shave the truffle onto the dish as well? I remember that in Perugia (Umbria is a truffle-producing region).

If you buy a tube, which is useful as back-up supplies, imec should be buying the President's Choice brand from Loblaws, not the green tube. At least one of their kinds is real grana (which they call parmesan, but I doubt that). But it is much better than Kraft.

People on a budget might want to look out for the Argentine Sardo cheese, which is actually rather good (Argentina really having no shortage of either cows or Italians).

If anyone has a cow milk allergy, pecorino is made from ewes' milk. There are cheeses other than parmesan and pecorino romano good for grating - dry crotonese is one, and there are Greek ewes' milk grating cheeses as well, though they are extremely salty.

imec, I thought the query "how do you Parmesan" would be about how to do an eggplant (aubergine) or veal, chicken, turkey or pork cutlet parmesan...

[imec]

Oct 15, 2009 22:46:41 GMT lagatta said:

Imec, did they shave the truffle onto the dish as well?

No, I believe it was just paste out of a tube - tasty though.

[Don Cuevas]

Green tube for cheap, quick nostalgia thrills; grated from a wedge of "Queso Reggianito" for those oh-so-special occasions.

(Thought I'd posted this once twice, but it didn't show up.)

[fumobici]

I'm not a fan of substituting pecorino for reggiano, though there is a type of pecorino that's hard and saltier made just for that (can't recall the name). There's also a hard cheese from Mollorca that is a good and different reggiano alternative (again- can't remember the name). All that said even though it's considered a little déclassé in the Emilio, I reckon humble grana is an excellent grating cheese over pasta. It's what you'll find in the little bowl on the tables of the rustic trattorias more often than not even there, and those locals and truck drivers are nobody's fools.

As for whether to grate fine, grate coarse or grate those bigger flat pieces, I think it depends on what you're topping. The big square flakes stay separate from hot sauce better- instead of blending in they retain their own identity and carry the cheese flavor better I think. The really fine shavings act almost as a thickening agent when they contact hot steaming sauce and get disturbed by the fork.

[lagatta]

Don Cuevas, is "queso reggianito" from Italy (translated into Castillian), Argentina or Mexico itself?

Yes, fumobici, parmesan has its own special umami that the various pecorinos don't equal, but do note I was referring to people who have trouble consuming cows' milk. Although I'm quite lactose intolerant, I don't really have any problem with reggiano though, in part due to the small quantities but also the amount of ageing that really eliminates most of the lactose and other undigestibles.

Yes, the type of grating or shaving depends both on the pasta and the sauce.

imec, oh truffles are good in any form but when they bestow the fresh shavings on you it is very special indeed.

[fumobici]

Ah, truffles. ;D



This is a awful photo, but this is a proper plate of tagliatelle coi tartufi, pasta fatto in casa and fresh local black and white truffles straight from the woods I got in a restaurant in Urbino, Le Marche last Fall. 12 euro including a complimentary dessert platter accompanied by the Marche version of vino santo made of grapes and local cherries. The white truffles are shaved over the top, the black truffles are chopped and tossed into the pasta and it was of course topped with fresh grated reggiano.

Urbino is a wonderful, wonderful little city in N Marche that I implore you to spend a day at if you get the chance.

[lagatta]

Urbino is wonderful, and a historical centre for art.

I never got THAT many truffles in Urbino, Perugia, Norcia or anywhere else. I'm pouting!

[imec]

Oct 16, 2009 1:32:41 GMT fumobici said:

This is a awful photo, but this is a proper plate of tagliatelle coi tartufi, pasta fatto in casa and fresh local black and white truffles straight from the woods I got in a restaurant in Urbino, Le Marche last Fall.

It's like some kinda amateur porn for foodies.

[fumobici]

I think it helped we were the only patrons in early for lunch on a day that began rainy and cold (but turned brilliant and sunny) in mid-November and that the local truffle haul that month had been by all accounts bounteous beyond recent memory. I wish I remembered the name of the restaurant, it's right across from the duomo- it looks like a bar from the street but you go through the bar in front and there's a charming dining room on an interior courtyard. We only ordered a carafe of red but the chef came out from the kitchen and insisted on pouring us glasses of something he insisted would compliment the tartufi better. He was the one that also insisted we not leave without trying a big platter of the local apple tarts and cookies washed down by glasses of the dessert wine his family made in one of the local frazioni di Urbino. I noted the place didn't even rate a mention in Fodor's at which point I irreversibly concluded that Fodor's don't know shit

There's a lot to be said for being the only table in a very good restaurant off season. Quite a lot sometimes. By the time we pushed back from the table the place was beginning to fill up, I doubt the later diners got quite the same treatment. It was the perfect fuel up for a sunny afternoon stroll of the city and I needed a couple of hours to walk all the wine off before heading back home to Anghiari over a pretty hairy Apennine pass anyway.

[fumobici]

Oct 16, 2009 2:38:09 GMT imec said:

It's like some kinda amateur porn for foodies.

Oh, totally ;D

[bixaorellana]

Imec made me laugh.

That's good, as it cut into the intense envyI was feeling for Fumobici.

To answer the OP ~~ the cheese of choice in my family was always Romano, and I'd choose that over Parmesan any day. Except for the green canister, either of them are hard to find. To me the green canister stuff lacks flavor and I've gotten to point where I can eat pasta without cheese. Sometimes I really miss it though, and scrape some of the salty queso fresco onto my spaghetti.

[Deleted]

When my parents were living in France, they discovered hard pecorino at the local street market where there was a stand for Italian products, and they completely abandoned parmesan.

[bixaorellana]

I always knew you came from intelligent people.

[happytraveller]

I buy Parmesan both grated (in plastic bags) and en bloc. The grated one I use to sprinkle over pasta and such, en bloc I eat it preferably with a piece of fresh bread and a glass of red wine.

[happytraveller]

Oh, and grated cheese (any type) I store in the freezer. Does prevent it from getting mouldy and it defrosts very quickly on your pasta.

[tillystar]

Yeah ready grated in plastic bags for midweek dinners, if cooking something special massive flakes off the block or just big chunks with bread and wine a la 'appy!

Gonna stroe some in the freezer as well now. Good plan to stop me feeling like I need to put it all on in one go

[Deleted]

The freezer is a great idea, but it already has so many mysterious items in it, I might risk sprinkling chopped lemon grass on my food instead of parmesan. Hey, maybe that's not a bad idea.

[lagatta]

bixa, you can't find any pecorino or parmesan there? I'm in shock.

I'm glad to find another pecorino fan. Both are fine cheeses. I avoid cow's milk as much as possible, as I was severely allergic to it as a child and I still sometimes have bad reactions to it.

[imec]

Oh god, the "Oh, and grated cheese (any type) I store in the freezer." thing made me laugh...

For many of my sons early years, he would eat NOTHING but "code" (his pronunciation of cold) cheese - a handful of frozen grated mozzarella from a bag in the freezer - he'd only eat it while it was still "code". Eventually, he branched out and added "yice" to his diet - plain steamed "yice" with his code cheese along side.

At 10 he's considerably more adventurous and I was absolutely stunned when he ordered (and loved) lamb at a fabulous little bistro in Paris.

[imec]

If I have guests for an impromptu dinner and have nothing on hand for dessert, I'll sometimes serve shards of Reggiano on a plate with a small pool of aged balsamic for dipping - it's always well received.

[Deleted]

Meanwhile, has he been to speech therapy?

[imec]

Oct 16, 2009 13:16:03 GMT kerouac2 said:

Meanwhile, has he been to speech therapy?

Actually, Mrs. I described his manner of speech to a colleague who was a speech language pathologist. She promptly suggested she get him to one right away and within 2 or 3 months he was speaking perfectly - much of his speech was previously unintelligible to all but family.

In the supermarket he once he asked "Dad, ca we go see da cyabs", I says "what?", "ca we go see da cyabs", "sorry son, Daddy doesn't understand", "DA CYABS, DA CYABS, DA CYABS AND DA YOBSTAS" (in the live tank in the seafood section).

[Deleted]

Well, when I was six, I still couldn't pronounce "th" -- it came out as "z" -- and then one day a scary teacher forced me to learn to speak correctly. It took about 15 minutes.

[bixaorellana]

LaGatta -- it can be had, but must be sought out at certain stores and it's not always available. Thus, I've learned to live with the situation.

Imec, surely it was inevitable that your & Mrs. Imec's appreciation of a wide range of good food would educate your kids' palates. Good for you all!

[lagatta]

kerouac, isn't that because your mum is from France? There is no "th" sound in French. Perhaps your mum always pronounced as a z sound, as many French-speakers do.

[Don Cuevas]

"Don Cuevas, is "queso reggianito" from Italy (translated into Castillian), Argentina or Mexico itself? "
I think it's from Argentina or Uruguay."

I thought of the smartass answer, "It's from Costco.", but I wouldn't post that. ;D

[auntieannie]

I always buy it in slabs these days. if we need it for risotto, bf will grate it with a flat grater. tiny holes. usually this one: www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80083256

I have one like Kerouac for my personal use.

and, like HT, I like to eat it in thin slices.

[Deleted]

Oct 16, 2009 15:00:59 GMT lagatta said:

kerouac, isn't that because your mum is from France? There is no "th" sound in French. Perhaps your mum always pronounced as a z sound, as many French-speakers do.

My mother pronounced the 'th' sound perfectly well. My problem was because French was my first language and I learned English only when my mother returned to the U.S. after nine months in France.

I am told that I spoke only French for a couple of months, communicating only with my mother and my brother (who had forgotten how to speak English and spent his first moments of first grade learning it again -- it took one week). I refused to say anything in English until one day, I must have decided that I had absorbed the language around me. My mother spoke to me as usual in French and I announced, "I don't talk zat way anymore!" From then on, I refused to speak one work of French.