Is anyone else irritated by the "Parmesan cheese" vs the "Parmigiana" thing?

[bif]

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. Only if someone feeds me "Parmesan" (the faux stuff), rather than Parmesan Reggiano!

[elleng]

2. Only irritated when its NOT Parmigiano-Reggiano.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmigiano-Reggiano

Anything else a waste of my money (and I don't have enough to waste.)

[Warpy]

3. Only when it's in that green foil can

That stuff is horrible and the thief of the name.

I've been substituting Romano lately. It's a whisker cheaper.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

5. You might try asiago

I am currently writing a book on pasta sauces, and I say this in the introduction: "Despite my having lived in Wisconsin, when I say 'parmesan cheese,' I mean Parmigiano-Reggiano."

There is a difference between the two.

[Warpy]

6. I know that, but well stocked cheese cases aren't easy to find

out here in the wild west. I compensate myself by the fact that the number and variety of chile peppers makes up for that. Once your food gets blisteringly hot, the Mexican queso makes a bit more sense.

I can always find Romano. Asiago is more difficult and Parmagiano-Reggiano is ridiculously expensive.

[Lucinda]

4. Nope. They are two different things in my household. :)

[Tab]

7. Parmigiana is a dish. Parmesan is a cheese.

They're different things.

Sometimes people say "Chicken Parmesan" when they should really say "Chicken Parmigiana" but that's the extent of it.

Parmigiana <> Parmesan. Different entities.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. "Parmesan" is how the French say "Parmigiano-Reggiano"

The word predates the European laws that sanctify such products and probably refers to that type of cheese more than, specifically, what we now call Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Kraft, who boldly applied the name to that crap they sell, can pull the green foil over their ears and yank hard, whereupon they might hope for a few last breaths.

[kurtzapril4]

9. I grew up on the green can stuff

and I don't mind it. I like parm-reg, too.

[southernyankeebelle]

18. I to grew up in the states on the green can. But I will tell you that there is a big

difference in the tastes. I eat the green can because it's cheaper.

[cbayer]

10. I think, though I could be wrong, that this has something to do with

trademarking by Italy. There are several products that they have trademarked the names of, and no one else is allowed to use them.

Similar to champagne.

[Glassunion]

11. I had a rant recently on the very topic...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021853716

[cbayer]

12. Great rant, Glassunion!

So sorry to see it didn't get any response, but I really enjoyed reading it.

You might want to repost here.

[Glassunion]

13. That's what I get for doing an OP at 11:30pm

Thanks, I will repost here. I just re-read it, and realized all my examples were food. Ha! I guess you can see my passions in life are music and food which both follow second to my wife of course.

[cbayer]

14. Music and food are my passions as well, also following my husband who appreciates

my love for both.

I have recently become much more creative with my cooking (with mixed results) and taken up the clarinet, which I am learning on my own. I can feel my right brain expanding on a daily basis, which is strange at this relatively late point in life.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

15. Minor quibble

In your rant, you write

honest and true Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese has been produced in the neighboring towns of Parma and Reggio Emilia.

Parma is a town in the region of Emilia-Romagna. It is as if you said something were made in the neighboring towns of Los Angeles and California.

Parmigiano-Reggiano is made in Emilia-Romagna and one town in Lombardy.

[Glassunion]

16. I think you may have mis-read what I wrote.

I wrote:
"the neighboring towns of Parma and Reggio Emilia"
not
"the neighboring towns of Parma and Emilia-Romagna"

I understand that Emilia-Romagna is the region. Inside that region are two cities, one is Parma and the other Reggio Emilia (in Italian: Reggio nell'Emilia). The two cities are about 20 or so miles apart if you take the Via Emilia.

However, I should have more clearly stated that the cheese is produced "around" (instead of in) the neighboring cities of Parma and Reggio Emilia (giving it its namesake). Within the Emilia-Romagna region the cities I mentioned, plus the cities of Bologna and Modena also produce the cheese. In the Lombardy region, the city of Mantova is also a producer. According to the PDO all of the producers are "on the plains, hills and mountains enclosed between the rivers Po and Reno".

I should have been more clear. Sorry about that. Sometimes my brain moves faster than my fingers can type and I become unclear.

http://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/default.aspx

[southernyankeebelle]

17. I had the pleasure back in the early 80s when I visited my uncle in Parma to visit

a farmer who made parmigiana cheese. It took us to the place in one of his building where they acutally made the reems of cheese. Then took us where they stored the reems of hugh round ball like. The smell was wonderful. The rooms that held the cheese were long rooms with several shelfs stacked over each other. OMG the smell was wonderful. When we left he took us in their home when his wife and sisters were making homemade pasta. When we left I thanked him for showing us and he gave us 2 hugh chunks of parmigiana cheese. There is nothing better then when its fresh. Yummy, yummy.

[winter is coming]

19. We call it "parmesian" at my house.

Not for any good reason; we're just goofy.

[selflesscook]

20. Parmigiano-Reggiano is the real thing while Parmesan is a copycat

In order to be called Parmigiano-Reggiano, the milk and the cheese must be produced in the area in Italy delimited by the Consortium - the entity that regulates the Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Parmesan refers to any cheese similar to Parmigiano-Reggiano but not made in the designated area in Italy. It's more a common name to represent this kind of cheese, which is not the real thing.

More here http://blog.nonnabox.com/what-is-parmigiano-reggiano/