CHEESE AND CHARCUTERIE ......

We're used to seeing Charcuterie and Parmesan Cheese on menus everywhere these days. But how much do we know about them ?  

I found the following nuggets of information on 'Discover the Origin', a website that sends us newsletters from time to time .......   

CHARCUTERIE:        Cured meats and sausages

It looks like Charcuterie, of one sort or another, has been with us for over two thousand years. 

In 700 BC the Romans passed a law, known as ‘Porcella’ that regulated the raising, killing and preparing of pork but, as there’s evidence that the Gauls were already making sausages, black puddings and cured hams when they were conquered,  it looks like the Romans may well have learned their skills from them. 

And there’s a legend that suggests how the technique of curing and salting hams was discovered. One day, a hunter in France wounded a wild boar. The animal escaped but its body was discovered months later, drowned in a salt lake. The meat was in perfect condition - cured in the brine. A legend – but there’s usually a bit of truth in every one of them !

PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO  CHEESE … More commonly known to us as Parmesan.

It seems that professional cheese testers use the same quality test as the ‘Wheel Tappers' used on train wheels……. A tap with a hammer !! 

This test shows the way the crust takes the blows and the cheese is then ranked by the results. After a year, the cheeses that have passed the tests are allowed to be branded and the words  ‘Parmigiano-Reggiano’  impressed on the rind.

THE FOUR AGES OF OF  PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO  CHEESE

12–15 months:   The youngest cheese permitted - light and best eaten as an aperitif or crumbled on salads.

18 months:     Delicate, but distinctive  -  the perfect flavour to add to risotto and pasta.

24–28 months:  Italians consider this the perfect age of this cheese to serve with vegetables and gnocchi.

36–48 month:  The most intense in flavour. Great on a cheese board. 

To find out more:       http://www.discovertheorigin.co.uk/

 “The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you're hungry again.”  George Miller