Grana Padano
Grana Padano for flavour pasta, salads or meat dish!
The production of Grana Padano takes place in the Region of Piemonte, in the provinces of Alessandria, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara, Torino, Verbania, Vercelli; in the region of Lombardia in the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Lecco, Lodi, Mantova, Milano, Monza, Pavia, Sondrio, Varese; in the region of Trentino alto Adige in the provinces of Trento and Bolzano; in the region of Veneto in the provinces of Padova, Rovigo, Treviso, Venezia, Verona, Vicenza; and then in the region of Emilia Romagna in the provinces of Bologna, Ferrara, Forlì Cesena, Piacenza, Ravenna and Rimini.
Grana Padano is a PDO cheese produced throughout the year with semi-skimmed raw cow’s milk. It is a cooked cheese, hard and slow aging.
Discover Grana Padano
Grana Padano is a PDO cheese produced throughout the year with semi-skimmed raw cow’s milk. It is a cooked cheese, hard and slow aging; It is produced from raw cow’s milk from cows milked twice a day, whose basic diet consists of green fodder. Raw milk, stored in the barn and from there transported to the dairy, must not have undergone any physical, mechanical neither thermal treatment that could change the status of the natural raw milk.
The cheese Grana Padano was awarded the Protected Designation Origin status (PDO) by the European Union in 1996
Only to cheese that meets all the requirements established in the Product Specification and has completed at least eight months is affixed to focus the mark of Grana Padano PDO. However, this cheese may not be sold before the actual completion of the ninth month of age.
Grated Grana Padano PDO is made exclusively from whole cheese already certified. The grating must be done in a defined production territory.
The packaging must take place immediately, without any other process or addition of other substances.
On the crust of Grana Padano PDO, as well as on the packaging, it is possible to read how long it has been the aging time.
How many types of Grana Padano exist?
The categories provided in the Regulations are three:
- “Grana Padano DOP”, in English PDO
- “Grana Padano oltre 16 mesi”, over 16 aging months
- “Grana Padano Riserva – oltre 20 mesi” over 20 aging months
How much does it weigh Grana Padano?
Grana Padano has a cylindrical form, with a diameter between 35 and 45 cm and a height between 18 and 25 cm. Each form weighs between 24 and 40 kg
How to recognize Grana Padano?
With the aim of protecting all the steps needed to produce Grana Padano, as they are indicated in the Production Guidelines, to achieve the high quality of all forms, in 1954 the Grana Padano Protection Consortium, called in Italian Consorzio tutela Grana Padano, was founded. The consortium brings together 130 producers, 153 seasoners, 132 authorized facilities for portioning Grana Padano PDO and 31 facilities for packaging grated Grana Padano PDO cheese.
What is the history of Grana Padano?
The production of this hard cheese began in the Middle-aged. In 1135 the Cistercian monks founded the Chiaravalle Abbey, an abbey located not far from the south walls of Milan, in an area that was marshy.
The monks reclaimed that area in the Po river plain and started cultivating crops and rearing livestock. Very soon they got a surplus of milk, and they needed to find a way to preserve that milk for longer periods, not to waste one of the most nutritious food that was available at that time. It was in this situation that has been produced the cheese called by the monks with the Latin name “caseus vetus”, that means “old cheese”. This cheese was later called “grana” cheese, due to its granular structure.
The cheese produced in the Po river plain became increasingly very popular, a cheese with two souls: an important ingredient in the elaborate recipes of the aristocratic cuisine and the basis of the popular gastronomic tradition.
On the 1 of June 1951 in Stresa, a nice little town in front of the Lake Maggiore, took place a meeting of workers and technicians of the European cheese-making industry. During this meeting the experts distinguish two different types of the cheese called “Grana Lodigiano”: they have been identified as “Grana Padano” and “Parmigiano Reggiano”.
Recipes and News
Parmesan Aged Over 12 Months
Parmesan aged over 12 months is the youngest Parmigiano Reggiano, which is the minimum seasoning for the Consortium to be able to give it the D.O.P. Ageing Phase The aging phase is a crucial step to obtain an excellent Parmigiano Reggiano, in fact, once the...
Healthy Foods for Fitness
Healthy foods for fitness are incredibly important and crucial for the proper rigeneration of the muscle tissue and in order to have the perfect energy to train. Micro and Macronutrients A healthy and varied diet is able to provide all the macro and...
Giusti Balsamic Vinegar: Giuseppe Giusti
Balsamic vinegar, to be perfect has to have salient parameters such as the dark brown color, full and bright, the intense smell, which hides grape aromas and hints of wood wines, the agro resulting from the slow acetification, and the complexity of the aromas...
Why Extra Virgin Oil is better
Just 50 ml of extra virgin olive oil with a high phenolic content is enough to improve endothelial function. The reports on the effects on the cardiovascular system of olive oils should specify the category and characteristics of the product: it is the extra virgin...
Taralli History
Taralli is an exceptional and peculiar type of crunchy bread that has the shape of a ring, nowadays is eaten by everyone, but back when it was invented only the poor ate it.
Grissini Bread History
Grissini are actually bread sticks and nowdays it’s easy to find them everywhere but many years ago a doctor used them in order to make Turin’s duke gain his health and strength back.
Pecorino Cheese: 5 Reasons Why You Should Eat It
Even though doctors and dieticians recommend a sparing use of cheeses, consuming 30/40 gr of pecorino cheese a day helps to satisfy our body's need in terms of proteins, phosphorus and calcium. This type of cheese is actually very high in proteins and overall...
Giuseppe Giusti Balsamic Vinegar Recognitions
Between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the Giuseppe Giusti Balsamic Vinegars made themselves known all over the world and enjoyed unanimous success among the European public…
Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
Balsamic vinegar of Modena, thanks to its unmistakable bitter-sweet flavor that lend itself to the most varied combinations in the kitchen, to its velvety density, which is a real pleasure for the palate, has distinguished itself all over the world, soon becoming...
Italian Easter Colomba cake recipe
Let’s say: it’s not easy nor for all, but why not? Get the challenge to cook the Colomba cake by yourself!
Coffee cream for Colomba cake recipe
A sweet Coffee cream to energize your cakes, biscuits and breackfast
Strawberries cream for Colomba cake recipe
A fresh Strawberries cream that you can use for Colomba cake but with many other cakes and biscuits
Cheese Pairings With Prosciutto
Cheese pairings with prosciutto play an important role when creating the perfect prosciutto board. And depending on the type of meats - prosciutto, coppa, speck, porchetta - one can pair different types of cheese. So we gathered some suggestions: • Among all the nice...
Parmesan aged: Different Types
A Parmesan aged (Parmigiano Reggiano) has at least 12 months, the highest among cheeses: at that point only the forms deemed suitable for the selection examination can continue aging for 24 months or more. Only the forms that have the essential characteristics...
Balsamic Vinegar Composition
Knowing what is balsamic vinegar composition is a very common curiosity. The fundamental difference between every other vinegar and balsamic vinegar consists of the raw material: grape must. Photo credit: wikipedia According to experts, three factors are fundamental...
Tagliatelle
Many types of pasta exist and today we are going to talk about tagliatelle! According to legend, tagliatelle was invented in 1487 by Mastro Zafirano, on the occasion of the marriage of Lucrezia Borgia with the Duke of Ferrara. Allegedly the cook was inspired by the...
Grana Padano DOP: the name’s Origin in Stresa
Grana Padano DOP is a hard, cooked and slow-maturing cheese, made with cow's milk from cows milked no more than twice a day and fed with green or preserved forage from the production area. This year marks the 70th anniversary of this world-famous Italian cheese. But...
Grana Padano Riserva: The Gift For The New President
It's official: Italy just sent a whole Grana Padano Riserva to The White House...But why? The president of the Consortium, Renato Zaghini and of the general manager, Stefano Berni said "we hope to restore the excellent dialogue we always had with the United States,...
Tuscan Olive Oil
So what's the difference between PDO and PGI Tuscan olive oil? The distinction lies in the production process. The acronym PDO stands for Protected Designation of Origin, while IGP stands for Protected Geographical Indication. In the case of DOP products, all the...
Italian Seasonings: The 3 Most Used
Many people all over the world tend to use Italian seasonings in order to enrich the taste of every dish, sometimes mixing them. Photo credit: Canva Used with meat, fish, pasta, eggs, bruschette and veggies, seasonings are perfect with many dishes in order to make...
Baci Perugina: The Romantic Story Behind It
Baci Perugina was invented by Luisa Spagnoli, in 1922. Spagnoli was looking for a way to recover the processing waste of other products and created this sweet with gianduia chocolate inside, chopped hazelnuts and a whole hazelnut inside, all covered with dark...
Tagliolini: History, Tradition and Recipe
Tagliolini (also named Tajarin) are one of many fresh egg types of pasta from the Piedmontese culinary tradition widespread especially in the Langhe area. Long, thin, and of a deep yellow color due to the presence of abundant yolk, tagliolini are eaten with rich...
Balsamic Vinegar Health Benefits
Balsamic vinegar health benefits are many, and today we are going to tell you 5 of them. Balsamic vinegar is a real panacea that, used day after day, will be appreciated not only by the palate! Benefit # 1: It helps you lose weight Balsamic vinegar is a...
Cured meats in Emilia Romagna
Cured meats are an excellence of the Italian food. Emilia-Romagna offers many types. Eat them accompanied by fried dumplings or tigelle and piadina. Also a good glass of Lambrusco or Sangiovese is never missing either!
Brain Superfoods: Grana Padano and Olive oil
Brain Superfoods are super important to keep ones longevity. In Italy there are 14 million persons over 65 and half of these, having exceeded the age of 75, are even more at risk of neurodegenerative diseases, cognitive impairment and virus infections, as demonstrated...
Fisherman-style Piadina recipe
Taste the Loriana Sfogliatissima piadina (flat Italian bread) with prawns, avocado, vegetables, parsley, and lemon: in few minutes and incredible snack! Ingredients 1 Piadina Sfogliatissima 4 prawns 1 slice of yellow pepper 1 slice of red pepper 1 small tomato Half...
Carasau bread history
Its history starts all the way back to before 1000 BC. The women prepared it for their men who were working as shepherds in the fields. The bread was made in such a way it wouldn’t lose its flavor and texture and was able to be stored for a long period of time.
The Origin of Balsamic Vinegar Term
What is the origin of balsamic vinegar term? Well, the term "balsamic" coined in 1747 for the first time, only serves to differentiate this type from the classic one, since the starting matrix is the same: both, in fact they are derived from wine grapes. Balsamic...
North of Italy Mushrooms
Italy is a land of mushrooms. A lot of North of Italy mushrooms come from the Alps to the Apennines, where mushroom hunters who, armed with baskets and badges for the authorization of the collection, set out in the woods. The porcino continues to be the most coveted...
Types of Balsamic Vinegar
Three types of balsamic vinegar have been on the market for some years: traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena, traditional balsamic vinegar of Reggio Emilia, balsamic vinegar of Modena. All three flaunt the adjective Balsamic on the label of the glass container. The...
Ways to enjoy Prosciutto in Italy
Prosciutto is a staple in Italian cuisine, and many Italian regions have their own way to enjoy it. Either with bread, wine and special pans the recipes are many.
Oil Digital Fingerprint
Oil Digital Fingerprint...what is it? It is one of the objectives of the Violin inter-university project, "Enhancement of Italian products derived from olive oil through innovative analytical techniques", which studies the characteristics of Italian PDO oils....
Ligurian Oil: PDO and Monocultivar
Ligurian oil is loved amongst Italian and, of course, is one of the regions best known for using it especially for its infamous focaccia Ligure! Photo Credit: pixabay Riviera Ligure PDO Italian extra virgin olive oil is obtained from the fruits of olives of the...
How to cook dried mushroom
Dried mushrooms are a great pantry solution to create amazing and tasty recipes but how to cook the dried mushroom?.In Italy, the most famous are the porcini Italian mushrooms that grow naturally in the Italian mountains, the Alps and the Apennines, and which are...
How to Spot a High Quality Panettone?
Countdown to Christmas has officially begun and this year just like every other one, in addition to the rushing for the perfect gifts, one of the most important missions is the choice of a high quality panettone, which according to tradition is the protagonist at the...
Balsamic Vinegar Uses
Balsamic vinegar uses can vary. With its irresistible scent and its black or dark brown color, balsamic vinegar is a condiment with unique characteristics born in Italy, produced for centuries in particular in the Modena and Reggio Emilia vinegar factories....
What Does EVO Mean?
So what does EVO mean? The term EVO, referring to olive oil, is the abbreviation for extra virgin olive oil. This type of oil is obtained, as required by a specific regulation, it's obtained through mechanical cold extraction or cold pressing. Both are operations that...
Capers – a New PDO in Sicily
May 2020, there has been the creation of the new PDO Aeolian Capers. The production of this new PDO currently stands at 600-700 quintals a year and about half comes from Salina.
How to store cured meats
Cured meats are loved by every Italian, but knowing how to store them is key in order to enjoy them longer and better.
The Cultivation of Capers
The cultivation of capers has ancient origins: it was born between North Africa and the Middle East and there are traces of it in the Bible, but also in the writings of Hippocrates, Aristotle and Pliny the Elder. Photo Credit: Wikipedia It is a resistant plant, able...