Credit crunch: Italy bails out parmesan

[cali]

Mamma would approve. While the world's major economies struggle to bail out their failing banks and car industries, Italy has revealed a different priority: parmesan.

By Nick Pisa in Rome
Last Updated: 10:54PM GMT 13 Dec 2008

Say cheese: the Italian government has dipped into its funding reserves to help bail out one of the country's most noted culinary products Photo: GETTY IMAGES
Silvio Berlusconi's government is to buy 100,000 of the country's beloved Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses from its hard-pressed producers at a cost to the state of 50 million euros (£45 million).

The hard, pungent cheese made around the northern city of Parma has until now been a staple product found in most Italian households - and as confirmation of the country's obsession with food is Italy's most shoplifted product.

But high production prices due to the soaring cost of animal feed and milk have driven up the cost of making one of the iconic 35kg cheeses so that manufacturers are losing money on each parmigiano they produce, while demand for the product from an increasingly cash-strapped public has slumped.

"It's a tragic situation," said Marco Iemmi, who has made parmesan for 30 years in the town of Salsomaggionre Terme. "I'll have to close up shop unless things improve."

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/3741990/Credit-crunch-Italy-bails-out-parmesan.html

[DJ13]

1. Thats a cheesy way for the Italians to make the news

[potone]

2. Now that is a civilized country!

[elleng]

5. BELLA Formaggio!

.

[DesertFlower]

3. i hate cheese. nt

[geckosfeet]

4. I am hungry - a little fermented curd should do the trick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3KBuQHHKx0

[Cassandra]

18. Cheesy comestibles?

This thread is entirely uncontaminated by cheese.

[geckosfeet]

19. An act of the purest optimism to even post the link in first place,,,

[monmouth]

6. Giada will not be pleased. This is her home territory. Tragic, I say...n/t

[CTyankee]

9. Why do you say that? Northern Italy is a pretty rich place, compared to other regions of Italy

and of Europe. I was there in May and never saw much in the way of distress withthe people.

[monmouth]

11. No, no..I meant problems with the parmesean. She had a wonderful

travel documentary a couple of years back when she traveled all of Northern Italy. It was wonderful. It even went into these warehouses and showed the huge wheels of cheese. That was my meaning in tragic. If I can't get my parmesean I'm gonna be unhappy also...LOL.

[depakid]

7. Once you've had the real deal, there's no going back

although the good stuff does take a bite out of the budget- a little goes a long way and it's worth the cost.

[CTyankee]

8. I was in one of those places they make that cheese last May. I t was very interesting!

It was a big barn where they stored the cheese in really large wheels. Here's the deal: the northern Italians in that region cut their cheese into (somewhat crumbly) slices and have a little decanter of balsamic vinegar nearby. You drop little drops of the vinegar on slices of the cheese. That is their appetizer...no kidding. It is great, btw, so don't laugh.

Hey, don't doubt the Italians, they know what they're doing when it comes to food. Just go along for the ride...it works out OK, take it from me!

[cali]

10. I'm not laughing. It sounds fantastic

and I just happen to have some wonderful aged balsamic that a friend brought back from Italy. Now I just have to get some good parm.

[CTyankee]

13. It is such a simple thing: just slice the cheese (it crumbles a bit) and put in on a plate and

put the balsamic vinegar in a carafe (if you didn't buy it in one already) and have little plates for people. It is wonderful and people love it.

[stray cat]

12. Parmigiano Reggiano - thats a worthy bail out! great cheese with french bread and red wine

[CTyankee]

15. I loved the way I ate in Italy (and in Spain too)!

You get a bottle of wine, some cheese, bread and olives and you have enough to tide you over until dinner time. In those countries dinner is VERY late. Later in Spain than in Italy, but don't even THINK of going to dinner before 8:30 pm in Italy and even later in Spain. It is daunting to Americans who are used to eating at 6 pm. But how lovely it is when you are over there!

[Golden Raisin]

23. Italian bread, please!

And/or a juicy, perfectly ripe pear. Cielo!

[izquierdista]

14. Did anyone object?

Were there any southern Italians who tried to filibuster against the bailout? Perhaps some senators who were bribed given a donation by Kraft foods so that they could build a factory to produce Kraft singles using non-union labor imported from Somalia?

[CTyankee]

16. Very good!

It is one of my goals in life to eat the way I ate in Italy and Spain. Their fresh foods were so wonderful I didn't want to come home.

No wonder we have a problem with obesity (which both countries do nothave). We don't respect the freshness of food here the way they do there. It's a whole tradition and way of looking at food...

[izquierdista]

20. Maybe we can both chip in

Let's see, that would be about 500 Euro for a 35 kg wheel of parmesan....works out to around $10 per pound.....

Nah, I don't want to share with you. I figure I could put away a whole cheese in a few months.....6 months tops.

[napi21]

17. Thank you Silvio! I love Parmigiian...the REAL THING!

My son lives in Sicily and he brought me a LARGE quarter when he was here visiting. It was wonderful. I LOL when we went to the local supermarket and he saw it was welling here for $14/lb! Apparently it's MUCH CHEAPER there!

My guess is that every real chef in the world is thanking Silvio as well!

[TahitiNut]

21. "What a senseless waste of human life!"

So, how much will it cost to bail out Red Leicester, Tilsit, Caerphilly, Bel Paese, Red Windsor, Stilton, Emmental, Gruyère, Norwegian Jarlsberger, Liptauer, Lancashire, White Stilton, Danish Blue, Double Gloucester, Cheshire, Dorset Blue Vinney, Brie, Roquefort, Pont l'Evêque, Port Salut, Savoyard, Saint-Paulin, Carré de l'Est, Bresse-Bleu, Boursin, Camembert, Gouda, Edam, Caithness, Smoked Austrian, Japanese Sage Derby, Wensleydale, Gorgonzola, Mozzarella, Pipo Crem', Danish Fynbo (Tybo), Czech sheep's milk cheese, Venezuelan Beaver Cheese, Cheddar, Ilchester, and Limburger?

[FarCenter]

22. Parmigiano you can eat -- credit default swaps, not so much