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Parmesan’t.
PARMESAN
cheese is protected by the european union’s region of origin laws concerning regional origin, thus this is merely strong , tangy and hard
CHEESE
That region of origin protection does not extend to the United States.
In the US, “parmesan” can legally be just about any kind of cheese made in any location (mostly Wisconsin), as long as it is aged at least 10 months, and not more than 32% moisture. “Parmigiano Reggiano” and some other specific trademarks are protected terms in the US that mean the same as they do in Europe.
That’s a long-ass way to say ‘not parmesan’.
Better than Pasteurized Process Cheese Product (aka American cheese)
In no way am I coming to the defense of American cheese product here, but I do need to point out that there are actually 3 different types of American cheese, based on how they are made. True American Cheese (which is “Pasteurized Process American Cheese”), the grosser “Pasteurized Process Cheese Food”, and the absolute worst “Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product”.
If you have never had it before, you should absolutely try real American cheese, maybe just don’t go into it with the expectation that it’s similar to any other kind of cheese (I’m not even sure it could be called a cheese anywhere else tbh but it’s really good). It’s OK on its own, but it’s really good for being used in or on other things.
I’ll just go ahead and admit right now that I’m an American (sorry) and I’m poor, so I don’t have the chance to try the best cheeses, but I have managed to find and try most of the best cheeses that an average citizen can find in the US.
The “prepared cheese food” is the disgusting thing to which you’re referring, that stuff doesn’t even melt which is fucked up. It’s not legally able to be called a cheese even in the US. It is the main reason that American cheese has such a bad rap, the second reason being the “cheese product”, and the third being that even true American cheese sometimes has a fake looking yellow/orange color to it (but white American cheese is also a thing if the colors turn you off).
Actual American cheese is really good on burgers, breakfast sandwiches, and imo it’s by far the best cheese for a grilled cheese sandwich. It melts very easily and the flavor is creamy and delicious. I still don’t know whether it’s actually a cheese or not, but I do know that it is delicious.
One quick way to tell them apart is the packaging: aside from the name, the gross ones are always individually wrapped (because I’m pretty sure it’s not something that could even be sliced, so they just pump it straight into the wrapper or something gross like that). True American cheese is usually not individually wrapped, it’s just a pre-sliced cube of solid cheese (if it is an actual cheese, again I’m not sure).
The weirdest thing to me is that anyone could find the cheese food acceptable. Its not even that much cheaper than the real stuff and it is incredibly gross, the texture is off, the flavor is most similar to vomit. We have other cheeses here, why is this even still a thing?
Here’s is the relevant Wikipedia section if anyone is interested:
Because its manufacturing process differs from traditional cheeses,[19] federal laws mandate that it be labeled as “pasteurized process American cheese” if made from more than one cheese. A “pasteurized process American cheese” must be entirely cheese with the exception of an emulsifying agent, salt, coloring, acidifying agents, and optional dairy fat sources (but at no more than 5% of the total weight).[8] A “pasteurized process American cheese food” label is used if it is at least 51% cheese but other specific dairy ingredients such as cream, milk, skim milk, buttermilk, cheese whey, or albumin from cheese whey are added.[20] Products with other added ingredients, such as Kraft Singles that contain milk protein concentrate, use legally unregulated terms such as “pasteurized prepared cheese product”.[21]
that even true American cheese sometimes has a fake looking yellow/orange color to it
I recently learned this is true of cheddar cheese too, they add annatto to it for coloring.
They just wanted to say “strong, tangy, and hard”
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I believe Parmesan is actually a protected description for cheese that originates from Parma / Reggio Emilia.
Otherwise it’s sparkling cheese!
can you imagine? carbonated cheese? Ugh.
Parmesan has become the type name, and Parmigiano Reggiano is the protected name for the Italian cheese. There’s actually an urban legend that the Parmesan made in Wisconsin is the more authentic, historically-accurate recipe, because the cheese made in Parma and Reggio Emilia has evolved over the years, while the immigrants in the United States stayed true to the old methods.
Slate has a long read on the topic.
TL;DR:
Neither one is “authentic.” Both Wisconsin Parmesan and Parmiggiano Reggiano have evolved independently.
In the EU, I know that for sure. Only if the “original name” is Parmigiano Reggiano, you may sell it as Parmesan. Otherwise, you gotta label it hard cheese or something. I think the same is true with pecorino romano.
Technically these “not Parmesan” cheeses can be just as good as Parmesan if produced using the exact same method. Which is not impossible for a modern dairy producer.
However (and that’s a big one) it will cost just as much. Most of these are meant to be cheap, not good.
Bastard. I meant to type many not baby, but I’m leaving it in.
They generally don’t age the blag ones as long, and baby of them are pasteurised.
More like “basically Parmesan”
“On par-mesan”
It doesn’t have the same taste. It’s an imposter. A pale imitation.
American?
Me or the cheese?
idk both? either?
Me, Northern Irish. The pretend parmesan, in England.
Ah well there you go, the english are at fault.
Always, the colonising bastards.
Huh… I assumed from the shitty date format you were from burgerland, but it’s hard to tell when the day is below 13.
ISO 8601 is objectively the best date format.
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I accidentally deleted my comment because I’m a bit pissed and can’t remember what I said. Go you, though, or right on, or whatever.
They tend to have tasteless cheese.
Yeah, that is probably something that can’t legally be called “Parmesan”.
Like it could be basically anything. The only thing we know for sure is that it is NOT Parmesan, because if it was it would say so.
The worst fake parmesan I’ve seen was Rapesan in Austria.
All I have is hard cheese and bubble gum and I’m fresh outta bubble gum
Parmesan Inspired
Based on a parmesan story
“Parmesan-y”
We might get an off brand pretending to be a review show '‘Parmas, on cheese …’
You can only call it Parmesan if it comes from the Parmesan region of Italy actually so
I mean, if it’s pre-grated it’s also partly sawdust, and sawdust is not parm
Does cheese turn into wood when grated? Well, blow me down with a feather.
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It’s not exactly sawdust, but they do have to add cellulose to pre-grated cheese, otherwise it will re-form back into a block of cheese. (Same reason why pre-sliced cheese has those bits of paper between the slices.)
