| Description: | | Grana Padano is one of the most popular Denominazione di Origine Protetta cheeses of Italy. It is often mistakenly sold as "Parmesan" or even "Parmigiano Reggiano" in the United States, and seldom under its real name.
Like Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano is a semi-fat hard cheese which is cooked and ripened slowly. It is produced by curdling the milk of grass-fed cows. The cows are milked twice a day, the milk is left to stand, and then partially creamed. It is produced all year round and the quality can vary seasonally as well as by year.
A wheel of Grana Padano is cylindrical, slightly convex or almost straight sides, flat faces with a thin rind, 35 to 45 cm in diameter, and 15 to 18 cm in height. It weighs 24 to 40kg per wheel. The rind is white or straw yellow.
Grana Padano is produced in the Italian provinces of Alessandria, Asti, Cuneo, Novara, Torino, Vercelli, Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Mantova to the left of the River Po, Milan, Pavia, Sondrio, Varese, Trento, Padova, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona, Vicenza, Bologna to the right of the River Reno, Ferrara, Forti, Piacenza and Ravenna. It has been produced since the 12th century, and production and quality are now overseen by the Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Grana Padano. |
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