Dear Crabby,
I know I'm not supposed to buy the shrink-wrapped Parmesan in the dairy section of my Key Food because it sucks. But I went to the cheese shop today and they had two kinds of "proper" Parmigiano Reggiano -- one was a 2 year aged for $12.99/lb. and the other was a 3 year aged Vacche Rosse for $23.99/lb. Is the latter really worth twice the money, or can I just get the 2 year aged?
Sincerely,
Udderly Perplexed
Dear UP,
First thing you should do is a taste test to see if you can tell the difference between the two cheeses. Because look, if you can't taste the difference, then no, you shouldn't pay the extra money. Any cheese shop worth its curd will provide you with a small slice for you to taste whatever you're thinking of buying. For me, the difference is huge -- the vacche rossa has a crumblier texture, with plenty of salt crystal crunch in every bite, nuttier flavor and a singing finish that really excites the palate. This is a cheese that would be beautiful on a plate with a Coach Farm triple creme and a listeria-free Point Reyes blue.
But say you're not going to just nosh on this fabulous cheese. You just want to grate some on top of your spaghetti (or, as that Giada de Laurentiis likes to say, spa-gee-tee) and put some in your risotto or something. It would be perfectly acceptable to use the younger cheese. But for me, I eat parmigiano so rarely that I figure I may as well spend another $5 on a block of the fancy stuff because it will last me a while. And when I'm not using it in soups, on salads, over bruschetta, etc., then I have something really special to nibble on.
One of my favorite summer treats -- boiled summer corn with butter, freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano, shichimi togarashi, and fresh squeezed lime.
Crabby
Got a question? I got a smart ass answer. Write to Dear Crabby at coconutella(at)yahoo(dot)com.
Re your summer corn treat: I had a Mexican street-vendor version of that in San Miguel de Allende -- but w/ Mexican red chile powder instead of shichimi togarashi, mayo instead of butter, and Cotija cheese instead of Parmesan. This was nearly eight years ago, and I can still taste it!
my version is what I came up with after craving the mayo cotija corn. but somehow I have a mental block about actually spreading mayo on corn at home. it's fine as long as someone else does it for me. they do have cotija cheese in my neighborhood though so if someone has a barbecue i'll bring the corn fixins.