Just as champagne now only refers to a sparkling wine produced in the regional area of Champagne, Parmesan (as in cheese) will only be able to be used by cheese produced from the regional area in Italy.When the champagne controversy first hit I thought it was rather pathetic and silly - I mean who buys "sparkling wine" for a celebration? And the removal of Burgundy and the like for other wines seemed just as silly. Mind you, their replacement names had a lot to do with the formation of that opinion.
Anyway, I have grown and developed and educated myself a bit more and I now, I think this is an important decision and one that should be wholeheartedly supported. As I increasingly research food and food producers I really do appreciate that those who have a point of difference - whether it be a special recipe, a quality standard, or whatever - should be admired and celebrated for itself.
Just because you can copy it doesn't make it right, or as good. We don't accept it in other forms of production - be it cds, clothes or watches, so why should food be an exception?
Lets face it, it's an abomination to all forms of decency that "spew cheese" in it's green containers and located on a shelf can be sold as Parmesan - and , in my limited world or food research, more people than not think that this is a true representation of a real Parmesan.
So now I begin to contemplate what an alternate name would be ... haven't come up with anything yet but I know I will live with it :-)
11 comments:
why not just call it spew cheese? then i will know what we are talking about xo
because REAL Parmesan neither smells nor tastes like spew cheese! lol
Hmmmm, real Parmesan - yum ! It's not always easy to find stuff that tastes and smells real - as my resident foodie guru, any suggestions MG ?
Cheesecrumbs
How about: powdered foot-odor topping?
The parmesan debate is always fun. But really the whole packet powder smelly sock cheese problem is probably only evidence that this cheese like champagne should be restricted to it's native home.
I love parmesan, I love cheese...My mother in law (Italian) used to take me on long hot walks, up winding alleys in Sydney to visit a cheese shop. Now take into account the only cheese I knew was in foil and came in a blue box (think it was Kraft) and kept in the cupboard...the shop she took me to was a mystical place, dusty dark with strange smells...they would talk, taste and haggle about cheese...bemoan missing Italy & 'real' foods...we would come home with slabs wrapped in paper...ahhhh yum
Hold on, I thought we boycotted French Champagne?
Sorry for the delay Missus, I went to the mountain, I have found two Australian bands that are reasonable and readily available - Millel and Romano. You can get them in most supermarkets - they are generally in little triangle wedges but Millel also does a shaved varitety. To shave your own cheese, use a vegetable peeler :-)
Real Parmesan is available from delis and comes from Parma (Italy) prices start from about $60 a kilo so it is very expensive for everyday use (unless you have a lot more money than I do) so go for the other brands :-)
I'm with you Miss A on the joys of real cheese shopping :-) As for French champagne, I boycotted all French products as a protest against Jacques Chirac and his nuclear testing int he Pacific while I was at uni but the only French products I bought were Bic pens (easily avoidable).
I heard of another champagne boycott when the naming dispute was on, and the US had a French boycott over the French peoples lack of will to obliterate Iraq but otherwise .... I don't know of one that is currently in force (not that I am up on every boycott that goes on of course)...
Sorry Missus, that should be Millel and Perfect Italiano ... I have Romano on the brain at the moment :-)
hey found this....
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23375392-29277,00.html
"...AUSSIES have put in another gold medal performance on the international stage - this time, it's for parmesan cheese.
Australia's own Mil Lel Superior Parmesan has beaten its overseas opponents to take top honours at the 27th Biennial World Championship Cheese Contest in Wisconsin, USA.
The Aussie made cheese scored 98.5 out of 100 points from the judges, beating entrants from the United States, New Zealand and Europe for the world's best-tasting parmesan.
The Mil Lel brand is produced by Dairy Farmers out of their factory in the southern Victorian town of Simpson, and spokesman Stephen Ellaway said the award was something all Australians should be thrilled with.
"Our farmers in particular can be proud of their efforts through what was another tough season,'' Mr Ellaway said.
"Their commitment to producing quality milk is what enables us to deliver products that stand above other quality products on the world stage.''
Simpson farmer Craig Thorburn said he felt proud to be associated with the world's best parmesan cheese.
"To think that our co-operative is making a cheese right here in Simpson that has just been named the world's best parmesan is pretty great,'' Mr Thorburn said.
"We'll be telling our friends and neighbours to go out and try our world-beating Mil Lel Parmesan for themselves.''
There was controversy in the parmesan cheese world last month when a European court ruled only crumbly cheese made near the Italian city of Parma can use the name.
But Australian cheese experts said the buoyant cheese market would not take a hit, with most people still calling the popular hard, grating cheese "Parmesan''.
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