Inside the Quirky Tradition of Cracking a Wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano
Carfagna's Parmageddon returns June 20-22, and the owners of Black Radish Creamery share their go-to Parm salad dressing
Inside the Quirky Tradition of Cracking a Wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano
By Erin Edwards
What does a cheesemonger’s Super Bowl look like?
Picture a cheesemonger on a stage standing over a 90-something-pound wheel of Italian Parmigiano Reggiano, known as “the king of cheese.” As an audience looks on, the cheesemonger expertly splits the aged cheese in half using special spades, revealing the cheese’s craggy interior paste while savory crumbs of cheese fall like snow. Cheers inevitably ensue.
That’s a small slice of what to expect at the fourth annual Parmageddon, taking place at Carfagna’s Italian Market June 20-22 under the tutelage of Michelle Vieira (@columbuscurdnerd), one of Columbus’ foremost cheese professionals and the leader of Carfagna’s cheese and deli program. Parmageddon will also feature cheese tastings, once-a-year Parm gelato, cocktail-and-cheese pairings and the chance to enjoy cacio e pepe prepared in a half-wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano.
“Parmageddon is my baby, it's always a party,” Vieira says. “It's a fun excuse to get really nerdy about something.”
Parmigiano Reggiano vs. Parmesan
A true Parmigiano Reggiano is made of only cow’s milk, salt and rennet–no additives–and aged a minimum of 12 months. It dates back to the Middle Ages when Benedictine and Cistercian monks were looking to create a long-lasting cheese.
Like Champagne, which can only be called by that moniker if it hails from the Champagne region of France, Parmigiano Reggiano is strictly regulated by a governing body (in this case the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium) and can only be produced within a specific geographic boundary: the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and parts of Bologna and Mantua.
“Parmesan,” on the other hand, is a more general term that may refer to Parmigiano Reggiano but also other similar hard cheeses and imitations. You know, like that stuff in the green Kraft shaker that we all grew up with.
A true Parmigiano Reggiano wheel carries a special dot matrix on the rind as well as the month and year the cheese was produced. Anne Reese, co-owner of Black Radish Creamery, compares these markings to those on currency—a way to distinguish real Parmigiano Reggiano from counterfeits. Wheels that pass inspection by the Consortium receive a fire-branded oval on their rind as well.
Making a Big Deal About the Big Wheel
The tradition of cracking large wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano goes back centuries, but these days it also serves a practical purpose: A 90-pound wheel of the real stuff can be quite an up-front investment for cheese shops and grocers.
For this year’s Parmageddon, Carfagna’s has invested in two special, 95-pound wheels of the cheese that cost about $2,800 each, Vieira says, plus additional wheels. In other words, it behooves shop owners to drum up excitement and make sure customers end up with Parm in their basket.
“Parmageddon, at first, was kind of an excuse for me to be able to bring in a full wheel [of Parmigiano Reggiano] and justify the cost of it,” Vieira says.
On June 21 at 2 p.m., Vieira will be cracking open a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano di Montagna, a specialty cheese produced and aged in the mountains. “At a certain point, the grasses and the flowers that the cows are grazing on are different than what is [found] in the lowlands,” she says. “It becomes a little bit more of an expression of that microclimate where the cheese is produced.”
Carfagna’s certainly isn’t the only place in town to watch this quirky, cheesy tradition. Black Radish Creamery’s shop at North Market Downtown breaks into a new wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano about every two months–usually on Saturdays, says co-owner Anne Reese.
Reese loves sharing the wheel-cracking tradition with market visitors, and says they encourage customers to smell and taste a freshly cracked Parm with an older version. “There's something about when you first crack open a wheel, it's very temporary, but the smell is so very fruity, very pineapple. It only lasts like a day,” she says. Reese expects Black Radish’s next public wheel cracking to take place at the end of July or early August.
Whole Foods also has a history of making a hoopla over Parm. The grocery chain once held the Guinness Book of World Records for the “most Parmesan cheese wheels cracked simultaneously (multiple venues).” (Yes, that’s a thing.) That world record now belongs to Loblaws, a Canadian grocer that set the record at 1,209 wheels in 2014. The grocer will try to break its own record on June 14, with more than 450 Loblaw stores across Canada participating.
The Craft Behind the Cracking
Cracking a massive wheel of Parm requires practice to get the technique down, lest you smash your fingers under the weight of the wheel (Reese has watched this happen) or let half of it slip and fall unceremoniously off the table (Vieira harbors nightmares about this).
Cracking a cold wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano can be an overly strenuous challenge, so it’s best to let the wheel sit out overnight before it’s cracked. Once it’s time for the main event, it’s important to wipe the wheel down, because “it gets sweaty” when sitting at room temp, Vieira says. Otherwise it can be “like wrangling a greased pig.”
There are tools of the trade, too. Specifically spades designed for the purpose of scoring, cutting and cracking open the wheel. (Vieira even has a Parm spade tattooed on her arm, an example of how much cheesemongers revere the Italian cheese.)
At Black Radish, Reese says they treat cracking wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano like a rite of passage for the shop’s newer staff members.
“We want everybody to have that experience,” Reese says, calling it an initiation into a kind of cheese fraternity. “We consider you a cheesemonger once you've cracked a wheel of Parm. It's like your graduation.”
Recipe
Anne & John Reese’s Weekly Rocket Salad
Ingredients:
arugula greens
4-5 part high-quality extra virgin olive oil
1 part lemon juice
honey (for drizzling)
2-ounces grated or finely shredded Parmigiano Reggiano (per person/serving)
sea salt & ground pepper
Preparation:
Dress arugula, then toss in the cheese. Plate salad and drizzle with honey. Finish with flaky sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
Notes
Around the Columbus Food & Drink Scene
Columbus Food Adventures’ June Supper Club is quickly approaching. A few tickets are still remaining for the June 18 multi-course dinner featuring chef Jeremy Nelson, who runs Umbral Supper Club and has spent time working in Michelin-starred kitchens in NY, LA and Chicago. Reserve your seats here by clicking June 18 on the calendar.
Also this month, Columbus Food Adventures is offering a Taste of the Balkans Dinner on June 25, featuring the folks behind Simply Balkan Market in Reynoldsburg. The event will take place at St. Mary Macedonian Orthodox Church and feature dishes from Montenegro, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia and other countries. To book your spots, visit columbusfoodadventures.com and select June 25th on the calendar.
A location of Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace has opened up inside Ace of Cups at 2619 N. High St. The new hot dog joint, which features a walk-up window, will be open 4 p.m. to midnight Thursday through Sunday.
Pokebap, one of Budd Dairy Food Hall’s original restaurant partners, will depart the food hall on Sunday, June 15. The poke-bowl eatery has a location in Dublin and, in an announcement on Instagram, hinted that new projects are afoot.
wait now I'm pumped for parmaggedon! definitely worth justifying the cost of a wheel of parmigiano reggiano :)