parmigiano

Italian parmigiano means 'of Parma' — the city in Emilia-Romagna where the cheese has been made since the Middle Ages. The earliest known reference dates to 1254. By the fourteenth century, Boccaccio described a mountain of grated Parmigiano in the Decameron. The cheese was already legendary in Italian literature before it had a formal production standard. English borrowed the word as parmesan by the sixteenth century.

Parmigiano-Reggiano is one of the most regulated food products on earth. It can only be made in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Mantua (south of the Po), and Bologna (west of the Reno). The cows must eat local grass and hay. The milk must be partially skimmed. Each wheel is inspected by the Consorzio after aging at least twelve months. Wheels that pass inspection are fire-branded on the rind. Wheels that fail are scraped and sold anonymously.

The gap between Parmigiano-Reggiano and the product sold as 'parmesan' in the United States is vast. American parmesan can be made anywhere, from any milk, aged for as little as ten months. The green Kraft can contains dried, grated cheese mixed with cellulose powder (an anti-clumping agent derived from wood pulp). In 2016, Bloomberg reported that some 'parmesan' products contained more filler than cheese. The word parmesan, in America, promises nothing.

The EU protects the name Parmigiano-Reggiano and restricts the use of 'parmesan' to authentic Italian production. The United States does not recognize this protection. The same word names a $30 wedge of 24-month-aged Italian cheese and a $5 can of powdered something from Wisconsin. The cheese is different. The word is the same. The name of an Italian city is used to sell products that Italian city would not recognize.