CANADIANS AND PARM, THAT'S AMORE!
Hand-grated or by the chunk — we have a tremendous hunger for Parmigiano-reggiano
Giovanni “John” Occhiuto unloaded his maiden wheels of Parmigiano-reggiano by hand, right off the ship at the Port of Montreal, more than 50 years ago.
Those first five wheels satisfied demand in 1963, but in 2020, it took 2,000. As the owner of Montreal's Berchicci, importer and distributor of specialty Italian products, Occhiuto has witnessed Canada's increasing appetite for the ancient cheese.
“It evolved over time. When we first started, it was just us Italians that would eat the product,” says Occhiuto. “Back then, you could only buy it in cheese boutiques in Montreal, Toronto. But if you went out of the Italian circle there, it wouldn't be available.”
Pandemic-related restaurant closures threatened to put a serious dent in cheese sales. But consumers more than made up for the lack of food service orders.
According to data from the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium in Italy, 2020 was a banner year: 3.94 million wheels (roughly 160,000 tonnes) were produced, the most in the cheese's 900-year history.
Canadians had an especially impressive hunger for Parmigiano-reggiano. Of the G8 countries, Canada showed the biggest growth in imports at an increase of 36.8 per cent.
Canada brought in roughly 77,000 wheels (3,087 tonnes) of Parmigiano-reggiano in 2020. Ontario led the demand, followed by Quebec, B.C. and Alberta.
“Export to Canada boomed, but we have very positive data also from many other countries, including the U.S. (+1.9 per cent), Germany (+14.8 per cent) and the U.K. (+21.8 per cent),” says Andrea Robuschi, press officer for the consortium.
In terms of overall volume, he adds, Canada is steadily Italy's fifth largest export market for the cheese.
“The fact that we've increased collectively in Canada on Parmigiano-reggiano is amazing because these wheels are all coming over via container and it takes several weeks,” says Tess Mcnamara, head of salumi and formaggi for Eataly's North American stores.
“So you really have to forecast and it's a relationship of trust. Especially with restaurants shutting down, we've seen, understandably, a lot of our importing and vendor partners have grown very conservative in their stock levels.”
Parmigiano-reggiano's PDO (protected designation of origin) status means it can solely be made from the unadulterated raw milk of cows raised in Reggio Emilia, Parma, Modena, Mantua (south of the Po River) and Bologna (northwest of the Reno River).
Milk, salt and rennet are its only three ingredients and each wheel is aged for a minimum of 12 months within the production zone before being released for sale.
To better understand the increase in demand, the consortium surveyed Canadians on their attitudes toward Parmigiano-reggiano.
It found that the cheese is among the most popular comfort foods — beloved because it can be used in a wide range of dishes (including soups, burgers and pasta) — and is considered high calibre. “Its versatility combined with this perception of a very strictly controlled and quality Italian product made this magic happen,” says Robuschi.
Jo-ann Mcarthur, president of Nourish Food Marketing, expects that Parmigiano-reggiano may be benefiting from “a bit of a Stanley Tucci effect.” In his CNN show, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, the actor eats his way across the country, paying special attention to the provenance of regional ingredients.
For those who have discretionary income, there's a move toward buying more premium products, which could help explain the growing popularity of Parmigiano-reggiano as well, adds Mcarthur.
And there's also the appeal of the known. During times of crisis, people tend to gravitate toward familiar rather than innovative pleasures. Witness the viral success of baked feta pasta and the uptick of interest in Italian cuisine in general.
“There's that saying: In extraordinary times, we reach for the ordinary. And that's cheese,” says Mcarthur. “You can dress it up — you can get as fancy as you want — or you can get as basic as you want.”
A cheese that has been made according to the same method since Roman times epitomizes long-honoured culinary comfort.
Whether grated over pasta or snacked on in chunks, Parmigiano-reggiano is grounding, says Mcnamara. A decade ago, while working as a cheesemonger at Giolito Formaggi in Bra, Italy, Mcnamara cracked open her first wheel of Parmigiano-reggiano.
Guided by her mentor and boss, Fiorenzo Giolito, she had gained an appreciation for the time and labour that went into each wheel: at least 12 months of brining, flipping and inspecting. When it came time for her to crack open a wheel herself, she was simultaneously thrilled and stressed.
Lifting with her legs and engaging her core, getting the 84-pound (38-kilogram) wheel of Parmigiano-reggiano on the table was “a very mighty effort.”
Then came the act of cracking it open with a series of carefully positioned knives.
“It sounds a little bit dreamy and a little bit romantic, but I really believe it: You need to listen to the cheese,” says Mcnamara.
“It's how the curd has all knit together, so every wheel is going to be slightly different. There's a series of motions that really guide it and prime it for that moment when it's almost ready and then boom: It cracks open.
“So it's very special and super intimidating. It's sometimes the last thing someone learns, not because it's the hardest necessarily, but because it does kind of hold that intimidation factor.”
Generic Parmesan — which can be made anywhere in the world and often comes pre-grated in tubs or green tubes, rather than cracked open and served that same day as at Berchicci and Eataly — coexists with Parmigiano-reggiano in Canadian cheese cases.
The best way to appreciate the difference between the two is to do a side-by-side comparison, say Occhiuto and Robuschi.
Parmesan is not produced according to the same stringent standards as Parmigiano-reggiano, and though there is still some ambiguity, they believe awareness of PDO products outside of Europe is growing with time.
“I see it here in my store when I make people try it. They say, `Oh my God, it tastes different than the one we buy in a chain store.' You've got the full-bodied flavour of the Parmigiano. You recognize the difference,” says Occhiuto.
“There are many ways to serve it, but the most fragrant is when you cut the whole wheel in half and it comes out in chunks. That's when you really get to taste the full flavour of the cheese.”
Robuschi estimates that for each piece of Parmigiano-reggiano on the market, there are 15 wedges of Parmesan. The global Parmesan market is vast, but the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium — which is engaged in quality control, the fight against counterfeiting and promotion — estimates that the generic product equals roughly 200,000 tons.
Each wheel of Parmigiano-reggiano tells a story, which can be read on the rind of the cheese itself. The easiest way to identify the real deal is through its tattoo-like branding — the pin-dot imprints around the sides — and labels ( both the PDO stamp and the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium logo), which are mandatory on Parmigiano-reggiano packaging.
“You can look at a wheel and you can see the number that indicates the farm and the caseificio (creamery) where it was made,” says Mcnamara. “So everything has an identity. Everything can be traced back. And the gravity of that traceability is huge. It's very uncommon when you think about a lot of other cheeses.”
At Eataly Toronto, Parmigiano-reggiano is a pillar and the store carries a minimum of eight producers at any given time.
Over the past year, Parmigiano-reggiano Vacche Rosse, made from the milk of a heritage breed of cow, and Parmigiano-reggiano DOP (denominazione di origine protetta; Italian for PDO) — a 12-month, entry-level Parmigiano — have been the two bestsellers, she adds.
These cheeses occupy opposite ends of the price spectrum and signal that there's an appetite for both. As much as people might want a standard Parmigiano-reggiano to grate over pasta, they are also willing to try something new and interesting that they may not have tried before.
“Age isn't everything. It's definitely something we talk about because arguably there is more complexity and more nuance as something ages,” says Mcnamara. “But more than that, the size of the farm, the choice of the animal they're using — these are traditions that we also want to protect.”
Above all, Parmigiano-reggiano is a product of the land, says Robuschi, who is from Parma — one of the five places where the cheese can be produced.
“The first written evidence of Parmigiano-reggiano dates back to the 13th century. And since then, Parmigiano-reggiano has been produced with the same ingredients and basically with the same production technique. So it's like a living dinosaur from the Middle Ages that survived,” says Robuschi, laughing. “And despite centuries and centuries, it is still appreciated.”