Grana Padano DOP - "Reserve" over 20 months

Grana Padano DOP is a hard, cooked and slow-maturing cheese, produced with cow's milk from cows milked no more than twice a day and fed with green or preserved fodder from the production area. This being the "Riserva" version, it has a minimum maturation period of 20 months.

The production and grating area of Grana Padano DOP includes the territory in the Piedmont region of the provinces of: Alessandria, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara, Turin, Verbania, Vercelli. In the Lombardy region the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Lecco, Lodi, Mantua to the left of the Po, Milan, Monza-Brianza, Pavia, Sondrio and Varese. The autonomous province of Trento. In the Veneto region the provinces of Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona, Vicenza. In the Emilia-Romagna region the provinces of Bologna to the right of the Reno, Ferrara, Forlì-Cesena, Piacenza, Ravenna and Rimini. Furthermore the entire administrative territory of the municipalities of: Anterivo, Lauregno, Proves, Senale-San Felice and Trodena in the autonomous province of Bolzano.

The milk is partially skimmed by natural surfacing, at a temperature between 8 and 20°C, and placed in copper or copper-lined boilers, with a characteristic upside-down bell shape. Natural whey starter is added to the milk in the boiler, then heated to 31-33°C and calf rennet is added for coagulation. The curd is broken with a sprocket and then cooked under stirring up to a maximum temperature of 56°C. To reduce the risk of late swelling resulting from possible contamination of the milk by Clostridium tyrobutyricum, the addition of lysozyme, a natural enzyme extracted from egg white, is permitted. The curd mass settles to the bottom of the boiler and is left to rest for up to 70 minutes, so that it firms up and purges the whey. Finally, the operators, with a wooden shovel and a cloth (schiavino), lift it inside the boiler and cut it into two equal parts, called “twin forms”. Each of them is wrapped in a linen cloth, removed from the boiler and placed on the spreader. It is then placed, for at least 48 hours, in the special moulds, which imprint the marks of origin and then in brine for a period of 14 to 30 days. After drying, which can take place in a room called a hot room or stewing room, the maturing begins, from a minimum of 9 to over 20 months. At the end of the eighth month, the forms are subjected to expertization, which results in fire branding, or, if the product does not have the characteristics required by the specification, the marks of origin imprinted by the moulds are cancelled, by means of “netting”. The Grana Padano DOP forms are cold-stamped with the mark of origin and a series of dotted rhomboidal lozenges containing the words “GRANA” and “PADANO”, repeated over the entire form, except for a space designated for the GRANA PADANO branding; in the centre is a four-leaf clover, which shows the abbreviation of the province where it is located and the registration number of the producing dairy and the wording “DOP”; at the bottom left of the four-leaf clover is the CE stamp, which identifies the production plant, while on the right is the indication of the month and year of production.

The origins of Grana Padano DOP date back to the year 1000, when the Cistercian monks, in order to respond to the need to preserve the excess milk that was produced in the area, experimented with the production of a hard cheese that lasted over time, the " caseus vetus ", later called grana. At the end of the 11th century this product was already an established reality, with a real commercial network.

Characteristics

 Grana Padano DOP has a cylindrical shape, a hard, thick and smooth rind, golden yellow in color. The paste is finely grained, straw yellow in color, with barely visible holes. The aroma is fragrant with hints of butter and hay, while the flavor is rich, complex and generously flavorful.

 Pairings

 Grana Padano Riserva pairs perfectly with chestnut honey, fig or pear jams, creating a balance between sweetness and flavor. Dried fruit such as walnuts and almonds enhances its structure, while an Amarone della Valpolicella or a Barolo enhance its intensity. Excellent with Parma ham and culatello, it is best enjoyed with whole grain bread or artisanal breadsticks. Perfect for enriching risottos, stuffed pasta or meat carpaccio, it finds a refined pairing with Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, which enhances its aroma.

Milk, salt, rennet, preservative: Lysozyme