Identification number
It's applied onto the flat surface of each wheel and it allows to identify the dairy producer with the help of the guide of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium.
Oval brand
The oval brand 'Parmigiano Reggiano Consorzio Tutela is stiked on the wheel and it testifies the requirements established by the productive standard. This stamp confirms the success of a year of production, the faithfulness and the conformity with the antique methods of working by the producers.
Month and year of production
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is the unique cheese with the indelible marking of the month and year of production.
Parmigiano Reggiano is an ode to tradition and for this reason, unlike other renowned cheeses, it can’t be "manufactured" industrially ... as the advertising spot says, "you make it" only with the skilled hands of the cheese maker. Parmigiano Reggiano is a food of excellent quality and high standard and it’s suitable for any type of table. Being a product of the mountain is renowned for its authenticity. It’s an hard cheese with a slow maturation. The milk of the evening and the morning milking is partially skimmed and then it’s used for the elaboration of the cheese. The maturation is natural and must last for at least 24 months, even if the resistance to aging is significantly higher superiore.
The aged cheese is used both as a table cheese and grated. Its features are:
THE ANCIENT ORIGIN
Parmigiano Reggiano, a classic and prestigious Italian cheese known and appreciated worldwide for its inimitable peculiarities, has ancient origins. Bibliographic sources from the Roman period (Columella, Varrone, Martial), confirm the existence already at that time, i.e. at the beginning of the Christian era, of a cheese from Parma with very close characteristics to those of the Parmigiano Reggiano. The more secure testimony belongs to Boccaccio, who mentions the Parmigiano - Reggiano in his Decameron (1350) describing its employment (To dress macaroni and ravioli). Therefore no doubt that already in 1200 - 1300 the Parmigiano - Reggiano had reached that perfect notoriety that has survived unchanged up to the present day.
PLACE OF ORIGIN
The production of the cheese takes place in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna and Mantua.
This area is delimited by law. The name Parmigiano Reggiano, as well as the terms "Parmigiano" and "Reggiano" are protected by a specific law and reserved exclusively for the cheese produced in that area, in compliance with a strict standard with force of law, which has codified the local, fair and constant uses that characterize the production of this typical cheese.