Cheese! Split from: Physical Revue says "Whiteboards are Racist"

[MigL]

Speaking of bull 😀 .

5 hours ago, Phi for All said:

the aged Parmigiano Reggiano that gets the Protected Designation of Origin stamp on every round. It's a centuries old process, and the cheese is flat-out amazing.

The Protected Designation of Origin is nothing more than protectionism, similar to tariffs, to protect local industry.
I've had American made Parmigiano Reggiano that was as good, if not better, than the Italian imported product.
And nowhere near the price ( that is the main reason for protection; preserve the high price point ).

Similarly, I've had brandy that is much better than the protected Cognac.
And although I don't much care for sparkling white wine, I prefer Prosecco ( also protected ) to Champagne.

But I do like Buffalo mozzarella; the fresh stuff still oozes milk when you cut into it.
( I have no idea how the buffalo learned how to make it so good )

[CharonY]

3 minutes ago, MigL said:

Speaking of bull 😀 .

The Protected Designation of Origin is nothing more than protectionism, similar to tariffs, to protect local industry.
I've had American made Parmigiano Reggiano that was as good, if not better, than the Italian imported product.
And nowhere near the price ( that is the main reason for protection; preserve the high price point ).

Similarly, I've had brandy that is much better than the protected Cognac.
And although I don't much care for sparkling white wine, I prefer Prosecco ( also protected ) to Champagne.

But I do like Buffalo mozzarella; the fresh stuff still oozes milk when you cut into it.
( I have no idea how the buffalo learned how to make it so good )

I think that disqualifies you from calling yourself an Italian. BTW, I do think that the protection has the benefit from preserving the old process over industrialized shortcuts that tend be more easy to find.

In Europe, much of the protected stuff is actually reasonably cheap, too.

[MigL]

I'm just a 'practical' Canadian ( of Italian origin ), and we have our protectionism here also.
American cheeses are subject to import tariffs to protect the Dairy Industry in Quebec.

Without the constraints of making Parmigiano the old fashioned, labor intensive way, it can be made with the same ingredients ( there aren't many ) and just as good.
See here           https://www.webstaurantstore.com/blog/2960/what-is-parmigiano-reggiano.html

[CharonY]

I have concerns. Most high quality products follow a similar process. But cheaper ones do take shortcuts in time. Bacterial activities, us where the flavor comes from, and many inferior products simply are not aged as much.

[MigL]

My apologies for going from perceived racism, off topic to to cheese.

There is a type of Parmesan cheese which is produced over a much wider area of the Po River valley in Italy.
It is much cheaper to manufacture, and can be aged as little as 9 months ( less than the 10 months of American Parmesan ).
It has been produced since the 12th century, received protected designation in the 50s, and under the PDO since the 90s.
More importantly, many people prefer it to Parmigiano Reggiano.

See here      Grana Padano - Wikipedia

Edited May 24, 2023 by MigL

[CharonY]

I think we should move the discussion off from the main thread, but I don't think of Grana Padano as a better or faster Parmigiano Reggiano, it is just a slightly different product. Like aged wine or whiskey, (somewhat) different notes for different tastes and occasions.

An important bit is also the quality control of the process for these protected products. Some, such as dietary requirements for the animals, or cumbersome, long winded processes can have more or less subtle effects on quality. Many optimized methods can get close (e.g. by adding the major components affecting flavour), but there is often something missing in depth.

Also I feel that because industrial production is so much more efficient, they scavenge off a lot of (unprotected) mid-class products. Regional products can still be great, but it is often hard to find them in grocery stores (and then they tend to be similarly expensive as European imports).

What I found especially in the USA is that folks are so used to these products (e.g. American "cheese") and oversweetening of products that often many standard (and usually cheap) products such as sausages contain ungodly amount of sugars and fillers, whereas the actual meat remains on the bland side.

I know it sounds snobbish (though someone with Italian heritage should be used to that) but the mass produced foods seem to twist the taste of folks toward sweet, overflavoured products. There are in fact studies about this phenomenon (mostly in the US) and while origin production might not be the best solution, it is a way to incentivize the maintenance of more convoluted, but ultimately less overproduced food.