Parma

 

 

 

 

Parmesan, Parma, Italy 

One of the world’s most famous cheeses was invented by Benedictine and Cistercian monks during the 12th century. According to historical evidence, monks in Benedictine abbeys near the towns of Parma and Reggio Emilia were looking for a recipe that would make a long-lasting cheese. By mixing milk from the monasteries’ cows with salt from nearby salt mines in Salsomaggiore, these food pioneers crafted a dry dairy paste kept in large wheels that could be preserved for months or even years. The first evidence of the parmesan cheese trade goes back to 1200, when a notarized acquisition of Caseus Parmensis (cheese of Parma) was made in Genoa. By the 14th century the cheese, made according the same monk-devised recipe, was widely traded in northern Italy and ports of the Mediterranean sea. By the 17th century, competitors were trying to make versions of Parmesan in other cities, leading the Duke of Parma Ranuccio I Farnese to create a law that only allowed cheese made locally to be called “of Parma.” That law was the first example of “denomination of origin,” a label that certifies the geographical production of food products now widely adopted across Europe. Today, the local dairy farm called “Latteria Due Madonne” (literally “Two Madonnas Milk Shop”) produces Parmesan according to the same method invented by Benedictine friars in the 12th century. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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