Reggianito Argentina cheese may not be as complex as Parmigiano-Reggiano, but its robust flavor and friendly price make an attractive option for recipes.
I was in Whole Foods yesterday afternoon, shopping for ingredients to do a little recipe developing when I trolled over to the cheese counter. Whole Foods’ cheese counter always sings a siren song that I’m powerless to resist.
“Come sample my wares,” it sighs. “Just have a little taste.”
The heady aroma of cheese and promise of a sample lures me to the cliffs of pecorino Sardo, into the rocky coast of Gruyere, where I’ll sink into the pungent mounds of Spanish goat cheese. The friendly folks at the counter are like drug pushers at an elementary school, cheerfully doling out samples of this and that. They know that once you nibble, you’ll bit and pop for an unplanned $10 purchase of some remarkable cheese. (Oh, my, there are enough mixed metaphors in this paragraph to give a high school English teacher a coronary. Ah, well, that’s kinda the point of blog–to leave unvarnished bad writing alone.)
Hmm, I probably should add this tip to my Eat Cheap page: If you love cheese like I do, steer clear of the cheese counter. It will reel you in and cost you money.
But yesterday I had a rather pleasant surprise. My eyes fell on a honey-colored chunk labeled “Reggianito Argentina,” priced at $2.79 for a third of pound. The attendant cut me a generous sample. It was nutty and salty, and for the money, very good buy. Sold!
Now, I’ve probably eaten Argentina’s version of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese many times before and just didn’t realize it. The stuff is often marketed in the United States simply as “Parmesan.”
Photo courtesy of Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Just after World War I, Italian immigrants arriving in Argentina saw miles of grassy ranch land, lots of cows, and, therefore, the ingredients to produce cheese in the manner of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Parm-Regg is the grande dame of Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, a cheese still made in the traditional way–pretty much by hand in copper vats by expert cheesemakers. The curds are pressed into giant, 80-pound wheels, and then aged in a salt bath in a darkened room, where they are lovely tended and turned, for at least 12 months and up to three years. No wonder it’s a national treasure that’s protected by a consortium (if the stuff isn’t stamped or otherwise labeled “Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano,” it’s an impostor.)
It’s a time-consuming, labor-intensive process that results in a hard cheese of remarkable complexity. And it’s expensive–$18.99 a pound at Whole Foods. The Argentine verison, called Reggianito because the cheese is produced in comparatively petite, 15-pound wheels, is aged just five or six months, so its flavor and character are no where near as complex as that of its older Italian cousin.
But at just $8.99 a pound, I’ll look to Reggianito Argentina for cooking and reserve my beloved Parm-Regg to enjoy for dessert with a nice glass of wine so I can fully appreciate all of its pricey charms.
