Ways to Travel: Random thoughts from a random mind

This morning we had arranged with Lola to learn how parmigiano reggiano was made, so after a breakfast of caffe latte (2 each), toast with homemade butter and homemade fruit jams, and a slice of home baked crostata di frutta di bosco we climbed into Lola’s little yellow Fiat in time to reach the manufacturing plant as they began the cheese production.

With apologies to those who may find the next few paragraphs boring, I found the process fascinating. The farm at Agriturismo Leone produces the hay and corn that feeds their 200 cows, but they contract with a local manufacturer who produces the cheese for them and one other farmer. They get an average of 2800 liters of milk per day, in two milkings. The evening milk is delivered and pumped into stainless steel trays where it sits overnight before the cream is skimmed off the top to be used for butter and for pig food for the pigs that become prosciutto di parma. The morning milk is then added, and the mixture goes into deep copper vats, heated and left until the curds and whey separate.

Shortly after we arrived the three cheesemakers began the labor intensive process of gathering the curd into a cheesecloth. Each vat provides enough curd for two 40 kilo wheels of cheese, so the curds are heavy, as they are full of water at this point.

Each round gathered is cut into two pieces, which are then transferred to molds where they are weighted and left to drain for 8 hrs. A band is added that pierces the outer edge with a code to indicate the producer and the month/year, and the rounds continue to drain for three days, after which they are put into water troughs with pure sea salt.

They are left there for 23 or 24 days, rotated daily to ensure they age properly. Then they are transferred to racks and put in a “hot room” to dry for one day before being moved to the aging room, where the racks stretch to the ceiling. The wheels must age for a minimum of one year before they can be stamped as “parmigiano reggiano” and sold.

There is a rigid standard, and the association that oversees the process regularly tests the milk at the farm for its purity, and the aging wheels. Most of the cheese we saw would be sold after it had aged one year, but a percentage is aged for 2 years or more, and a small amount for three years. Lola explained that at three years the flavor is very intense, and used primarily for grating to use over pasta.

After our visit to the factory, we returned to the farm, where we toured the cow barns (we also found a group of about 15 summer day camp children having a day on the farm, where they visited the cows, were taken out to where the corn and hay were grown, as well as the tomatoes and onions the farm grows for sale). I commented that there was a strong movement in the US NOT to confine the cows to barns. Lola explained that cows producing the milk for parmesan cheese HAD to be confined, as they had to be fed only hay and a grain mixture of corn, rice and one other grain whose name escapes me; it the cows were let out of the barn, their milk would include other grasses, and not be useable for parmesan. We were surprised by the technically sophisticated methods being used – each cow wore a transmitter that measured and controlled how much feed it had eaten (the cows pushed on a door to release a pre measured quantity of grain, and if a cow had eaten its limit, the door would not open), how much they weighed, etc.

We were then invited into the breakfast room, where a huge wedge of two year old parmesan awaited us, with a basket of a special bread, homemade mostarda and marmellata, and two kinds of balsamico. A bottle of a friend’s home brewed malvasia was then opened, and we ate our fill and more of the delicious combination of parmesan , bread and wine. It was a very special morning.