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Probably I'm biased because I'm Italian and I grew up eating them, but Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano are hands down the best cheeses there can be. Many p

Probably I'm biased because I'm Italian and I grew up eating them, but Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano are hands down the best cheeses there can be. Many people know and consume them only grated on pasta dishes, but they are especially delicious on their own with some good bread or grilled polenta. Also, the crust can be chopped up and added to risotto (as you're cooking it) and they turn into wonderful little chewy chunks.

qwertox 2y ago
I absolutely love them. I don't like how it melts on pasta, so I eat it directly.
hk__2 2y ago
I can’t really rate cheeses on a scale; A 36-months comté or emmental has very different flavours from a 36-months Parmigiano and I wouldn’t rate one "better" than the other. Like any good cheese, I agree that Parmigiano Reggiano is best eaten on its own. I’m French and something that surprise me is that both Italy and France have very good cheeses, but only in France we eat cheese on its own as part of the meal: the traditional French meal is: starter / main plate / cheese (sometimes with salad) / dessert. In Italian restaurants you sometimes find them as antipasti, but not always, and (at least in my experience) at home people don’t really eat cheese on its own.
- thierrydamiba 2y ago
  Why do you think this happens? In America eating cheese by itself is usually seen as a very fancy activity. I can’t think of the last time I had a spread of just cheese in the US, and it was probably a fancy place.
  - mauvehaus 2y ago
    The Co-op food stores in Hanover and Lebanon NH did a March madness cheese bracket. We hosted a small bracket party with a selection of unfamiliar cheeses for friends to try while filling out our brackets. It was weirdly fancy (eating good cheese), and weirdly not (I don't think of March madness brackets as a particularly refined thing). It was all delicious though!
  - hk__2 2y ago
    From what I read [1] this habit of eating cheese as part of the meal is a tradition in France since at least the Middle Age, although until the end of the XIXth century it was eaten after the dessert instead of before. However I can’t find why this happens in France and not in other cheese-loving countries like Switzerland or Italy. [1]: https://ericbirlouez.fr/index.php/activites/articles/42-une-breve-histoire-du-fromage-et-de-sa-place-au-sein-du-repas https://ericbirlouez.fr/index.php/activites/articles/42-une-... (fr)
  - sneak 2y ago
    No, the American style of eating cheese by itself is anything but a fancy activity. We usually lean over the sink, with the bag of shredded in one hand…
  - poulsbohemian 2y ago
    But it doesn't need to be! If you want to put out a nice charcuterie and cheese spread for a social occasion, you have so many options at multiple price points. You can make a great spread with even a generic cheddar, colby, "mozerella" etc. If you've got a restaurant supply store near you, bet you can find some basic sausages, salami, etc that won't break the ban on a charcuterie board. I've seen $20 spreads and $200+ spreads, and while they were different, each made the guests happy.
- bromuro 2y ago
  I do eat cheese with my Italian family as main course, usually when coming back from the Alps with a good amount of homemade cheese. The best with potatoes.
- dylan604 2y ago
  > (at least in my experience) at home people don’t really eat cheese on its own. that's sad. i love at home charcuterie boards and a nice bottle of wine. while much more fancy that what my dad did. I did grew up with blocks of cheese pretty much always available as he loved cheese. and no, we're not from Wisconsin
  - poulsbohemian 2y ago
    This is such an underrated experience - a bottle of wine (doesn't even have to be particularly expensive, just pleasant), some cheeses, maybe a few slices of sausage or cold cuts, maybe a baguette or a salty cracker. Jazz or perhaps a some easy listening music in the background - pure bliss! The best things in life cost so little and yet are so perfect.
- riffraff 2y ago
  Cheese as a standalone course was a thing in Italy too, after the other courses, and it disappeared in recent decades. You can see remnants in pop culture, e.g. in the '80s we had a tv quiz show called "il pranzo è servito" ("lunch is served") where participants had to win rounds for each of: first course, second course, cheese, dessert, fruit. There was also a saying in central Italy "la bocca non è stracca se non sa di vacca" ("the mouth is not tired unless it tastes of cow", which in hindsight is odd cause there's mostly sheep cheese there) but by the '90s the cheese plate had switched to antipasti only, IME.
mauvehaus 2y ago
For those who didn't know, the rind can also be dropped into an otherwise ordinary pot of soup and add a lot of flavor. Thanks for the risotto tip; gonna have to try that. I've never tasted the rind after cooking it in soup: it's not an appealing look to my eye. What size should the rind be chopped up for risotto?
- sfilmeyer 2y ago
  For those who don't know, the rind can also be just plain eaten. Maybe I'm just a heathen, but I find it far too delicious to ever waste on a pot of soup.
  - xandrius 2y ago
    I used to just microwave it or bake it, wonderful snack.
jajko 2y ago
For just raw cheese taste, me and my whole family both older and younger (which grew up in eastern europe where absolutely none of these was known behind iron curtain, not even as cheap stolen bad copies), AOC Gruyère surchoix and aged Gouda are top. From italian its pecorino pepato (specifc, I know) and then black truffles variants, usually also of pecorino. Maybe cheese you mention are more of an acquired taste rather than love at first sight, can't tell but will keep trying :)
theideaofcoffee 2y ago
I agree, they're so good on their own for snacking, a really good Reggiano has such an interesting flavor, I can't get enough. Runners-up for me include gruyere, a dark aged gouda, or camembert or reblochon. I just had a piece of locally-produced but nothing compares to Reggiano. Also I always add the rind to my risotto too!
wrboyce 2y ago
I got home today from my first trip to Italy (we went to Verona for Vin Italy) and cheese was at the top of my shopping list of things to bring back. As it happens, I’m right now eating some 36 month aged Parmigiano Reggiano; absolutely beautiful. The food and wine I enjoyed in your country were on another level! On the subject of risotto, I had my first ever(!) risotto last night: a risotto amarone, and wow! Absolutely incredible, molto interessante!
- MarceliusK 2y ago
  Sounds like you did Italy right. Now good luck going back to regular supermarket cheese without shedding a small tear.
crazygringo 2y ago
I love them as well, but they seem to be too hard and too strong to pair well with bread. They really do seem to work best grated into things like pasta, risotto, and soup, or as shavings in salad. I mean, you do you, but you'd find me reaching for a lot of other cheeses first to go with my bread.
xandrius 2y ago
Also Italian, lots of really interesting cheeses out there. Appenzeller medium, young Asiago, sake trappist cheese, blue brie, extra sharp English cheddar, and of course mozzarella and halloumi. I think both the Grana and the Parmiggiano are great in some places but not everywhere, so I couldn't pick them as sole winners.
fracus 2y ago
I tried Grana Padano once and my take away was that I would never choose that cheese over Parmigiano Reggiano. Isn't it just an inferior similar cheese?
- Quarrel 2y ago
  Not necessarily, but yes on average. Parmigiano Reggiano is more tightly controlled, and has larger total cheese produced (by a fair bit I think). Very good Grana Padano can be just as good, but there are lots of bulk producers who turn out younger, cheaper cheese, that is yummy, but not as good as aged Parmigiano Reggiano. FWIW, in the USA in particular, there is quite an industry in fake Parmigiano Reggiano. https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2023-08-25/cheesemakers-experiment-with-microchips-to-authenticate-parmigiano-reggiano.html https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2023-08-25/c...
SV_BubbleTime 2y ago
Um… but pecorino romano exists…
- flodcw 2y ago
  Exactly! They're the best until you try pecorino romano. Unless it's strictly a matter of taste, but IMHO a lot better than parmigiano reggiano
MarceliusK 2y ago
I didn't grow up with it like you did, but the first time I tried a chunk of it on its own with a little honey and bread… game over.
draven 2y ago
I take some when I go hiking for a few days, they can handle spending a few days in a backpack and have a good calories / weight ratio.
Ylpertnodi 2y ago
There are variants (without the trademarked? names) - 'Uguale', is a nice cheese, without the geo-protected price tag.

qwertox 2y ago

I absolutely love them. I don't like how it melts on pasta, so I eat it directly.

hk__2 2y ago

I can’t really rate cheeses on a scale; A 36-months comté or emmental has very different flavours from a 36-months Parmigiano and I wouldn’t rate one "better" than the other. Like any good cheese, I agree that Parmigiano Reggiano is best eaten on its own. I’m French and something that surprise me is that both Italy and France have very good cheeses, but only in France we eat cheese on its own as part of the meal: the traditional French meal is: starter / main plate / cheese (sometimes with salad) / dessert. In Italian restaurants you sometimes find them as antipasti, but not always, and (at least in my experience) at home people don’t really eat cheese on its own.

thierrydamiba 2y ago
Why do you think this happens? In America eating cheese by itself is usually seen as a very fancy activity. I can’t think of the last time I had a spread of just cheese in the US, and it was probably a fancy place.
- mauvehaus 2y ago
  The Co-op food stores in Hanover and Lebanon NH did a March madness cheese bracket. We hosted a small bracket party with a selection of unfamiliar cheeses for friends to try while filling out our brackets. It was weirdly fancy (eating good cheese), and weirdly not (I don't think of March madness brackets as a particularly refined thing). It was all delicious though!
- hk__2 2y ago
  From what I read [1] this habit of eating cheese as part of the meal is a tradition in France since at least the Middle Age, although until the end of the XIXth century it was eaten after the dessert instead of before. However I can’t find why this happens in France and not in other cheese-loving countries like Switzerland or Italy. [1]: https://ericbirlouez.fr/index.php/activites/articles/42-une-breve-histoire-du-fromage-et-de-sa-place-au-sein-du-repas https://ericbirlouez.fr/index.php/activites/articles/42-une-... (fr)
- sneak 2y ago
  No, the American style of eating cheese by itself is anything but a fancy activity. We usually lean over the sink, with the bag of shredded in one hand…
- poulsbohemian 2y ago
  But it doesn't need to be! If you want to put out a nice charcuterie and cheese spread for a social occasion, you have so many options at multiple price points. You can make a great spread with even a generic cheddar, colby, "mozerella" etc. If you've got a restaurant supply store near you, bet you can find some basic sausages, salami, etc that won't break the ban on a charcuterie board. I've seen $20 spreads and $200+ spreads, and while they were different, each made the guests happy.
bromuro 2y ago
I do eat cheese with my Italian family as main course, usually when coming back from the Alps with a good amount of homemade cheese. The best with potatoes.
dylan604 2y ago
> (at least in my experience) at home people don’t really eat cheese on its own. that's sad. i love at home charcuterie boards and a nice bottle of wine. while much more fancy that what my dad did. I did grew up with blocks of cheese pretty much always available as he loved cheese. and no, we're not from Wisconsin
- poulsbohemian 2y ago
  This is such an underrated experience - a bottle of wine (doesn't even have to be particularly expensive, just pleasant), some cheeses, maybe a few slices of sausage or cold cuts, maybe a baguette or a salty cracker. Jazz or perhaps a some easy listening music in the background - pure bliss! The best things in life cost so little and yet are so perfect.
riffraff 2y ago
Cheese as a standalone course was a thing in Italy too, after the other courses, and it disappeared in recent decades. You can see remnants in pop culture, e.g. in the '80s we had a tv quiz show called "il pranzo è servito" ("lunch is served") where participants had to win rounds for each of: first course, second course, cheese, dessert, fruit. There was also a saying in central Italy "la bocca non è stracca se non sa di vacca" ("the mouth is not tired unless it tastes of cow", which in hindsight is odd cause there's mostly sheep cheese there) but by the '90s the cheese plate had switched to antipasti only, IME.

mauvehaus 2y ago

For those who didn't know, the rind can also be dropped into an otherwise ordinary pot of soup and add a lot of flavor. Thanks for the risotto tip; gonna have to try that. I've never tasted the rind after cooking it in soup: it's not an appealing look to my eye. What size should the rind be chopped up for risotto?

sfilmeyer 2y ago
For those who don't know, the rind can also be just plain eaten. Maybe I'm just a heathen, but I find it far too delicious to ever waste on a pot of soup.
- xandrius 2y ago
  I used to just microwave it or bake it, wonderful snack.

jajko 2y ago

For just raw cheese taste, me and my whole family both older and younger (which grew up in eastern europe where absolutely none of these was known behind iron curtain, not even as cheap stolen bad copies), AOC Gruyère surchoix and aged Gouda are top. From italian its pecorino pepato (specifc, I know) and then black truffles variants, usually also of pecorino. Maybe cheese you mention are more of an acquired taste rather than love at first sight, can't tell but will keep trying :)

theideaofcoffee 2y ago

I agree, they're so good on their own for snacking, a really good Reggiano has such an interesting flavor, I can't get enough. Runners-up for me include gruyere, a dark aged gouda, or camembert or reblochon. I just had a piece of locally-produced but nothing compares to Reggiano. Also I always add the rind to my risotto too!

wrboyce 2y ago

I got home today from my first trip to Italy (we went to Verona for Vin Italy) and cheese was at the top of my shopping list of things to bring back. As it happens, I’m right now eating some 36 month aged Parmigiano Reggiano; absolutely beautiful. The food and wine I enjoyed in your country were on another level! On the subject of risotto, I had my first ever(!) risotto last night: a risotto amarone, and wow! Absolutely incredible, molto interessante!

MarceliusK 2y ago
Sounds like you did Italy right. Now good luck going back to regular supermarket cheese without shedding a small tear.

crazygringo 2y ago

I love them as well, but they seem to be too hard and too strong to pair well with bread. They really do seem to work best grated into things like pasta, risotto, and soup, or as shavings in salad. I mean, you do you, but you'd find me reaching for a lot of other cheeses first to go with my bread.

xandrius 2y ago

Also Italian, lots of really interesting cheeses out there. Appenzeller medium, young Asiago, sake trappist cheese, blue brie, extra sharp English cheddar, and of course mozzarella and halloumi. I think both the Grana and the Parmiggiano are great in some places but not everywhere, so I couldn't pick them as sole winners.

fracus 2y ago

I tried Grana Padano once and my take away was that I would never choose that cheese over Parmigiano Reggiano. Isn't it just an inferior similar cheese?

Quarrel 2y ago
Not necessarily, but yes on average. Parmigiano Reggiano is more tightly controlled, and has larger total cheese produced (by a fair bit I think). Very good Grana Padano can be just as good, but there are lots of bulk producers who turn out younger, cheaper cheese, that is yummy, but not as good as aged Parmigiano Reggiano. FWIW, in the USA in particular, there is quite an industry in fake Parmigiano Reggiano. https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2023-08-25/cheesemakers-experiment-with-microchips-to-authenticate-parmigiano-reggiano.html https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2023-08-25/c...

SV_BubbleTime 2y ago

Um… but pecorino romano exists…

flodcw 2y ago
Exactly! They're the best until you try pecorino romano. Unless it's strictly a matter of taste, but IMHO a lot better than parmigiano reggiano

MarceliusK 2y ago

I didn't grow up with it like you did, but the first time I tried a chunk of it on its own with a little honey and bread… game over.

draven 2y ago

I take some when I go hiking for a few days, they can handle spending a few days in a backpack and have a good calories / weight ratio.

Ylpertnodi 2y ago

There are variants (without the trademarked? names) - 'Uguale', is a nice cheese, without the geo-protected price tag.