You know, so many food shows and videos make a huge deal out of "Parmagiano Reggiano" as the ONLY cheese you can use to cook Italian dishes.  I beg to differ.

After having made cheese myself, and having tasted many cheeses, there are alternatives to the most expensive Parmesan cheese which don't cost nearly as much and taste just as good.

I'm all about honesty.  Look, Parmagiano Reggiano is really good cheese, but it's expensive for a reason.  Twenty years ago it wasn't this expensive, so why now?  Well, because every single cooking show, video and book says this is the ONLY cheese you should use.  I say BS.  There are other Parmasiano cheeses which are just as good.  No, I'm not talking about some Kraft cheese made with sawdust on a shelf in the spaghetti-O section of the market, but I am talking about good hard aged cheese.

If you look at the price of Parmagiano Reggiano prices they are 2x (easily) over the price of any other similar cheese.  Why?  Because they can.  Try some "copper pot Parmagiano" sometime, and there are many others.  No, it's not a buck per 8 oz. plastic bottle, but it's also not $50 bucks per pound (or more) either. 

I don't believe in hype.  Now, can you get crap cheese?  Yep, sure can, but if you look around and ask for tastes, you can get hard Parmesan and Romano (one of my favorites) cheeses for fractions of the price which will taste every bit as good as the 'Reggiano' stuff.

Just sayin'!

(01-23-2025, 08:54 PM)FCD Wrote:  I'm not talking about some Kraft cheese made with sawdust on a shelf in the spaghetti-O section of the market,

LMAO! Thanks, FCD; I needed a big dash of humor tonight!

I'm not much of a fan of Italian dishes anymore; tomato suace just doesn't agree with me anymore, but I DO like a good cheese!
WSU makes Cougar Gold cheese that is awfully good, but you have to mortgage the farm to be able to afford it!
a 30 oz. can will set you back $90.00!

(01-23-2025, 09:32 PM)Nugget Wrote: LMAO! Thanks, FCD; I needed a big dash of humor tonight!

I'm not much of a fan of Italian dishes anymore; tomato suace just doesn't agree with me anymore, but I DO like a good cheese!
WSU makes Cougar Gold cheese that is awfully good, but you have to mortgage the farm to be able to afford it!
a 30 oz. can will set you back $90.00!

Heh, a while back I was in a specialty shop that was liquidating.  In the "affineur / assigiatori / fromager" section I came upon a half wheel of Parm Reggiano.  It weighed about 35 lbs. and they were asking $150 bucks for it.  I almost fell over (that's less than $4.50 / lb.), but what was I going to do with 35 lbs. of Parmagiano???  I was so close to buying it, and it was a screaming deal, but I figured some restaurant would be able to get better use out of it than I could, and there was no shortage of customers (mostly commercial) in the place, so I let it go, but boy was I tempted!!!  Probably one of the better deals I've ever come across.

(01-23-2025, 09:49 PM)FCD Wrote:  I let it go, but boy was I tempted!!!  Probably one of the better deals I've ever come across.

Sometimes it can be just as satisfying to know you had the opertunity!
True story, I grew up in the era of Velveta or the plastic/was 'cheese food product' so it was never a part of my diet until I was in my 30's. A coworker brought in a brick of some kind of fancy cheddar and insisted I'd like it if I tried it. 
She was right! I never knew I was a cheese snob before that day. 

I ran across this article first thing today and found it most interesting!

culture’s 2025 Annual List of the Best Award-winning Cheeses

https://culturecheesemag.com/awards/best...newsletter

I wouldn't have minded being a taste tester there!

(01-24-2025, 03:46 PM)Nugget Wrote: Sometimes it can be just as satisfying to know you had the opertunity!
True story, I grew up in the era of Velveta or the plastic/was 'cheese food product' so it was never a part of my diet until I was in my 30's. A coworker brought in a brick of some kind of fancy cheddar and insisted I'd like it if I tried it. 
She was right! I never knew I was a cheese snob before that day. 

Generic government cheese anyone?  Yeah, I grew up eating that crap too.  The rectangular 5 lb. block of sliced cheese.  One said "American" and the other said "Swiss", but they both tasted like an old shoe.

Not knowing any better when I was a kid, I'd tried real cheese (not 'real good', but real none the less) and I didn't care for it.  It was too 'sharp' (bitter) for me.  It wasn't until I was in college that I actually tried some really good aged and hard cheeses.

(01-25-2025, 08:04 AM)Nugget Wrote: I ran across this article first thing today and found it most interesting!

culture’s 2025 Annual List of the Best Award-winning Cheeses

https://culturecheesemag.com/awards/best...newsletter

I wouldn't have minded being a taste tester there!

I think I gained weight just reading that article!!!

If I had to choose one type of cuisine for the rest of my life, I would go with Italian without thinking twice.