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By now the huge golden wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano appliqued with the distinctive pin-dot logo are recognizable to even the most neophytic of cheese lovers. With a history and tradition that goes back more than 800 years, it is easily one of the world’s most famous cheeses, and with its versatility and uncanny depths of layer upon layer of flavor, it is arguably the greatest. It is also notable in view of the fact that this cheese and indeed the whole category of grana-type cheeses to which Parmigiano-Reggiano belongs virtually inspired an entire cuisine. It is as if the cuisine rose up around it in order to accommodate and incorporate such a monumental achievement in cheesemaking. In its region of origin in Emilia-Romagna, the cheese is used in soups and sauces, as a filling for stuffed pastas and various roasts, as a grating cheese over cooked food, in baking and desserts, and as a table cheese for snacking. For many people throughout the world, it is the one cheese that they couldn’t live without. As we said, Parmigiano-Reggiano belongs to a group of cheeses known as grana, versions of which are produced throughout northern Italy, from Lombardia to the Veneto. The term refers to the granular texture of the cheese’s interior, a texture that once pulled or split open (the cheese should never be sliced open) resembles the rough-hewn walls of a marble quarry. The dairy cows responsible for Parmigiano-Reggiano feed on local grasses, as well as on highly controlled and regulated natural vegetable feed. Consumption of silage, or feed that has been allowed to ferment, is never allowed. The milk for Parmigiano-Reggiano is never pasteurized, and therefore, retains all of the valuable and nutritious bacterial floral inherent in the rich milk. Each day, fresh whole milk from that morning is mixed with partially skimmed milk from the previous evening’s milking in huge copper vats, along with some of the fermented whey from the previous day’s production. This helps initiate the fermentation process, which is similar to the one employed by a baker making sourdough bread. Natural rennet is used to coagulate the milk, forming curds that are the beginning of cheese. No other additives are allowed in the production except for the salt bath all the wheels will swim in for awhile after they are firm enough to emerge from their forms. Each vat produces two wheels of cheese and the entire process is done by hand in a centuries-old tradition that is handed down from cheesemaker to cheesemaker. Several important details can be read on the rind of each cheese, such as the certification mark showing that the cheese has been inspected by an expert as to quality and appearance. The pin-dot logo around the sides allows one to know even if the wheel has been cut into wedges that it is a genuine product. Other markings indicate in what province the cheese was made and at what time of year. Code numbers can be traced back to the individual producer, if one is so inclined. For more detailed information, to trace a particular wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano, or to obtain a copy of the new Pin Dot Press, the informational publication from the U.S. Information Office, send email to infousa@parmigiano-reggiano.com.