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This page contains an archive of all entries posted to 365 Cheeses in the Hard category. They are listed from oldest to newest.
Cheddar is the previous category.
Semi-Hard is the next category.
Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.
© 2008 Kirk Samuels
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Hard Archives
Mario Batali and others call it "the undisputed King of Cheeses"--Parmigiano Reggiano. I would not agree with the undisputed part--I do know some Frenchmen and this cheese isn't French--but I do say yes to its royal pedigree. Most often used grated or shredded because of its granular texture, grana, parmigiano is great shaved thin to top salads and pasta or broken into small shards for a cheese plate.
The first comment I thought I would write about this majestic cheese is the taste of salt. After all, it is used time and again to punch up other tastes with its saltiness. But tasting parmigiano again and alone, I was surprised that salt was not the first flavor on my tongue. First comes the texture. The peaks of the granules brush the tongue and the sides of my mouth. Then the taste buds around my tounge perk up. I sense the sweetness of milk. Then the tang of a cheese like Swiss Emmentaler followed by a slight nuttiness. Only then does the saltiness emerge. Occassionaly my tooth will hit a grain of saltier, harder cheese tucked into a larger bite.
Like a lot of Americans my first experience of "parmesan cheese" came out of a green cardboard can with a yellow smiling top. When my family had spaghetti with store-bought sauce we always topped it with the yellowy-white cheese. I liked it but then I didn't know any better. After tasting the real thing I could never go back. (That's not 100% true. I promise I will never buy the stuff but if I am visiting my parents and we eat spaghetti at home, there is a nice nostalgic comfort in the combination of Ragu and Kraft Parmesan, much like the affection I will always have for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner--not the best of its kind but a comfort from childhood.)
I have tried Argentinian "parmesan" and it can be an adequete substitute in cooked dishes. But its texture is worlds apart from the true thing. It lacks the marble-like layers of grana that flake away when cutting into real parmigiano.
Try the big PR, Parmigano Reggiano. Truly one of the world's best.
Name: Parmigano Reggiano
Type of Milk: Cow, Part Skim, Unpasteurized
Type: hard
Produced in: Italy, Emilia-Romagna
Date Produced: Unknown
Date Purchased: 10/23/2006
Date Eaten: 10/24/2006
Purchased Where: United States, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, A Southern Season
Price: $15.99/lb.
If Parmigiano-Reggiano is the King of Cheeses, Parmigiano-Reggiano Vacche Rosse is the Emperor. Made from a once near-extinct breed of red dairy cows, the Reggiana, Vacche Rosse tastes the way the cheese did in the days before World War II, richer, higher butter-fat content grana cheese produced in smaller batches. Can I taste the difference between modern Parmigiano-Reggiano made from more productive black and whites and the red cow product? It is hard to say. Red cow is damn fine. As wonderful as every other properly handled Parmigiano. Yes, I will say it is better. But...
Red Cow is expensive. I mean the most expensive cheese I've ever paid for, and there weren't any truffles or Sauterne inside. At Christmas time sales I found it for $31.99 per pound, well twice what I'd pay for a standard Parmigiano-Reggiano. Unless it's a very special occassion, like Christmas or the day I win the lottery, I will stick to the normal Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Name: Parmigiano-Reggiano Vacche Rosse, Parmigiano-Reggiano delle Vacche Rosse, Red Cow Parmesan Reggiano
Type of Milk: Cow, Unpasteurized
Type: hard
Produced in:
Date Purchased: 12/22/2006
Date Eaten: 12/23/2006
Purchased Where: United States, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, A Southern Season
Price: $31.99/lb.
All too often when talking about Spanish cheeses people will say, "It's kind of like Manchego." Yes, I too am guilty of this. But not today. For the rest of this article I will not mention the "M" word.
Roncal is a hard sheep's milk cheese from the Navarra region of Basque Spain. The flavor is both buttery and nutty, both milky and a little grassy a nd very different from other sheep's milk cheeses like most Italian percorinos. The saltiness is just right for thin slices of Roncal by themselves or alongside almonds or Spanish quince paste. Rocal deserves a place on your Spanish cheese board.
Name: Roncal or Farmstead Roncal
Type of Milk: sheep's, unpasteurized
Type: hard
Produced in:
Date Purchased: 2/13/2007
Date Eaten: 2/15/2007
Purchased Where: United States, Online Order, www.murrayscheese.com
Price: $21.99/lb.
The first taste of Grazalema transported me back to the best Spanish meal I ever had. The flavors shout out in Spanish with a Castilian lisp. The texture resembles others in the Spanish family but the taste is a unique blend of the sheep's milk richness and sweetness and the goat's milk earthiness and grass. Add it to the list of really good cheeses of Spain.
Name: Grazalema
Type of Milk: goat's and sheep's, pasteurized
Type: hard
Produced in: Spain, Andalucía
Date Purchased: 2/13/2007
Date Eaten: 2/15/2007
Purchased Where: United States, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, A Southern Season
Price: $/lb.
One definition of "Capraesque" from the online American Heritage Dictionary is "promoting the positive social effects of individual acts of courage". Capra Valtellina, then, I will call Capraesque since the making this cheese in an industrial age is courageous and eating it promotes a better society. I could also call the cheese "capricious" but that would be going a little far with the wordplay. "Capra" is an Italian word for "goat" where the milk of this fine cheese comes. "Valtellina" is the Valtelline Valley of Italy's Lombardy.
The cheese is firm and great for grating over a summer salad. It has a light, milky and generally pleasant flavor for a goat cheese. Not too strong or overpowering.
Name: Capra Valtellina
Type of Milk: goat's, pasteurized
Type: hard
Produced in: Italy
Date Purchased: 6/2/2007
Date Eaten: 6/6/2007
Purchased Where: United States, North Carolina, Raleigh, Whole Foods
Price: $15.99/lb.
One of the most photogenic cheeses I've encountered in a while, Mona from the Wisconisn Sheep Dairy CoOp is a delightful blend of equal parts sheep and cow milk. Aging for at least six months produces a firm, granular bite, a nutty mellow flavor,and marbled striations of color. The cow's milk curbs some of the sheep's milk earthiness imparting flavors of a medium aged Gouda. If you like Parrano you will appreciate Mona.
Name: Mona or Wisconsin Sheep CoOp, Mona
Type of Milk: sheep and cow's, pasteurized
Type: hard
Produced in: United States of America, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Cooperative
Date Purchased: 6/2/2007
Date Eaten: 6/12/2007
Purchased Where: United States, online, www.murrayscheese.com
Price: $18.99/lb.
I theorized at one time that Gorgonzola cheese's name may be derived from the similarity of its blue-green veins to the snakes in the hair of the Gorgon, Medusa. (I think I have seen Clash of the Titans more times than I should .) French author Emile Zola may alos have played a part in my ignorant, scholarly theories.
The name Gorgonzola in fact like many other Italian cheeses springs from the name of the town where it was said to have first been produced, Gorgonzola, on the outskirts of Milan. The piccante that follows this name may be familiar to people from Mexican menus and jars of salsa and indicates a sharpness the cheese possesses. Firmer than Gorgonzola Cremificato or Dolce, this cheese is a crumbler but still has a nice moistness to it. If you cook with Gorgonzola Cremificato for its creaminess by adding it to pasta or risotto you might finish the dish by crumbling the piccante over the top. Serve it in a green salad or with apples and pears next to sweet Italian dessert wines or prosecco.
Name: Gorgonzola Piccante
Type of Milk: cow's, unpasteurized
Type: semi-soft, blue
Produced in: Italy
Date Purchased: 6/16/2007
Date Eaten: 6/20/2007
Purchased Where: United States, online, Artisanal Cheese
Price: $16.00/lb.
I don't hate Bianco Sardo di Moliterno but it is not anywhere near my favorite cheeses. The initial taste is somewhat vegetal. Asparagus, maybe. I don't like the taste of asparagus especially in asparagus when it has a strong asparagussy taste and now I can say I don't like it in cheese either. The texture is a little weird too--dry but waxy. When cut the pale straw colored cheese turn white on the cut edges almost immediately. The outside of the cheese is marked by the reed basket the cheese ages in. Maybe that is the source of the unpleasant flavor that will make me pass on Bianco Sardo if I see it again.
Name: Bianco Sardo di Moliterno or Canestrato
Type of Milk: sheep's, unpasteurized
Type: hard
Produced in: Italy
Date Purchased: 6/16/2007
Date Eaten: 6/20/2007
Purchased Where: United States, online, Artisanal Cheese
Price: $13.50/lb.
The Spanish name hides the origins of this wonderful American-made cheese from Colorado. Produced by Haystack Goat Cheese outside of Boulder the name refers to the handmade quality of this fantastic cheese. Queso de Mano is the first raw milk goat cheese by these producers and it is as good as any produced in Europe. I have been recommending a lot of goat cheeses recently but do so without hesitation. Goat's milk cheeses can be just as amazing as any great cow's milk cheese and Queso de Mano is that good. Nutty and rich this cheese has delicious flavor and can pair with almonds or membrillo or fruity wines.
Name: Haystack Goat Cheese Queso de Mano
Type of Milk: goat's, unpasteurized
Type: hard
Produced in: United States of America, Colorado
Date Purchased: 7/12/2007
Date Eaten:7/14/2007
Purchased Where: United States, North Carolina, Raleigh, Whole Foods
Price: $24.99/lb.
Rossollino is another cheese I can find very little information about. Usually that is not a good sign. Here's what I know. I bought the cheese in Chapel Hill at the cheese counter of A Southern Season. The store-printed label says "Rossollino semi-aged peccorino". I have not always found accurate information on these labels and I am a unsure if the spelling of the name with two "l"s is even correct. The sliver of label from the manufacturer stuck to the cheese's rind mentions "...ated in rind with tomato's extract..." and may account for the reddish hue of the rind and the "rosso" in the cheese's name. Basically Rossollino is a peccorino vecchio, an Italian sheep's milk cheese probably aged a year. It is on the salty side and not the best cheese of its type I've had. It's okay but not memorable.
Name: Rossollino
Type of Milk: sheep's, pasteurized
Type: hard
Produced in: Italy
Date Purchased: 7/10/2007
Date Eaten:7/14/2007
Purchased Where: United States, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, A Southern Season
Price: $18.99/lb.
Trentingrana is cousin to Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano, a hard grateable cow's milk cheese from Italy, in this case Trentino in the north. The cheese I bought was showing its age, probably in the two-year range, very dry but sharp and tangy in flavor. I broke out the rasp and grated it over a Caesar salad and then over some pasta and butter. It is not up to the same level as parmigiano or even grana padano but still delivers in flavor. Not the best cheese in the world but no loser either.
Name: Trantingrana or Trentingrana DOP
Type of Milk: cow's, pasteurized
Type: hard
Produced in:
Date Purchased: 7/10/2007
Date Eaten:7/14/2007
Purchased Where: United States, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, A Southern Season
Price: $16.99/lb.
Mimolette in its whole form resembles a cantaloupe. In in its sliced form it resembles a sliced cantaloupe. The outer rind is simply dried aged Mimolette cheese that has been fed on by cheese mites. The interior orange color like most orange cheeses comes from the annatto of the Achiote plant. The flavor of this cheese is great. My wife Fleming said "Wow" four times. I counted. It tastes something of a mix between gouda and cheddar. It was aged but not to the point of being dried out. It still had some elasticity.
Name: Mimolette
Type of Milk: cow's, pasteurized
Type: hard
Produced in: France
Date Purchased: 7/19/2007
Date Eaten:7/20/2007
Purchased Where: United States, North Carolina, Raliegh, Whole Foods
Price: $16.99/lb.
Imagine, if you will, a school. An elite school. In the northern Italian countryside, this school takes in the children of only two families. But this school is even more exclusive than that. Not every child of these two families is invited to attend. Only the best and brightest are accepted and not all of students will make it through the rigorous process to graduation. The school is G. Cravero in the town of Bra in Piedmont and the students belong to the cheese families Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano. (No jokes about the milk products that come from Bra or I will keep you after class.) G. Cravero was named in 1855 after the founder Giorgio Cravero whose descendants keep the "G" in the family by naming a son Giorgio or Giacomo, alternating with each generation. They do not produce the cheese; they select the best and mature it in ideal surroundings until it has reached its height.
I have written about Parmigiano Reggiano twice before (cheese no. 1 and 53). How does Cravero's Parmigiano Reggiano compare to others I've tasted? First the texture is the perfect texture for PR. Not too dry so that it still has a great mouth feel but still aged enough so that it shreads well over pasta. The taste was not like other PRs I've encountered. To say it tasted a little like pineapple may sound pretentious, like a wine snob comparing a glass to a everything but grapes, but that was the first word that popped in my head at first bite. Slightly sweet with a detectablt level of acidity. Pineapple. One of my favorite fruits and a welcome flavor here. Pineapple is a symbol of hospitality afterall. For a price between the average PR and the top-of the-chart PR Vacche Rosse, Cravero was my favorite of the three.
Name: Parmigiano Reggiano, Cravero or Cravero Parmigiano Reggiano
Type of Milk: cow's, pasteurized
Type: hard
Produced in: Italy
Date Purchased: 9/28/07
Date Eaten: 10/01/07
Purchased Where: online, www.artisanalcheese.com
Price: $20.00/lb.
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