A hunk of Parmesan is probably a staple in your fridge. It’s a must-have ingredient for adding nutty, umami-rich flavor to pasta dishes and crisp salads, roasted veggies and hearty casseroles. But when you hit the cheese section to restock, you’ll often see a plethora of ages, price points, and countries of origin to choose from.
What’s the difference between Parmesan that’s made in the US and varieties imported from Italy? Why does domestic versus imported matter, and when is it really worth splurging on a higher-end wedge? Let’s dig into everything you need to know to choose the right parm for any recipe.
What’s the difference between American and Italian Parmesan?
The most obvious difference between American and Italian Parmesan is where it’s made. But that location actually determines how it’s made—which seriously influences both flavor and texture. Geography also determines whether the cheese will be labeled as Parmesan or as Parmigiano-Reggiano.
“Authentic Parmigiano Reggiano DOP is produced exclusively in specific provinces in Italy,” says chef Michele Casadei Massari, US brand ambassador for the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, the association of Italian makers that promotes the cheese and defends its Protected Designation of Origin (PDO, or DOP in Italian).
References to caseum paramensis—“cheese from Parma” in Latin—date back to Rome in the first century BCE. Each step in the production process must take place in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Mantua, or Bologna, following strict parameters around ingredients, production, and packaging to protect and maintain the cheese’s character and quality. These rules determine specifics like what the cows eat, how the milk is handled, how long the cheese ages, and whether the red-and-yellow PDO seal can be used on the label.
According to the PDO, Parmigiano Reggiano can only contain rennet, salt, and raw (unpasteurized) whole and skim milk, which is inoculated with natural whey starter cultures from the previous day’s cheesemaking. Wheels must be made by hand and aged for at least 12 months. The Consortium inspects each wheel before it is cleared for sale or export and legally allowed to use the name.
The result is that cheeses made with the ingredients, processes, and quality control dictated by the PDO offer a distinct flavor and texture. “Parmigiano Reggiano is beautifully sharp and nutty and intensifies as it ages, while the cheeses often mistaken for Parmigiano Reggiano tend to be less complex in flavor and in aroma,” says Massari. Young wheels around 12 to 15 months will have a milky, mild flavor that deepens around 24 months, with notes of nuts and spice and a crumbly, crystalline texture. At the 36-month mark, the cheese becomes very dry and grainy, with a distinct, bold flavor—better for snacking by the hunk with a sip of red wine or a drizzle of quality balsamic vinegar than grating over pasta.
Is Parmesan cheese made in the US?
Outside of Italy, Parmesan has become a catchall term for hard, salty, Italian-style cheeses. Cheese sold as Parmesan can be made anywhere, and it’s not defined by a PDO.
Because cheesemakers in the US and elsewhere don’t have to follow those rules, their parm has different characteristics. “If American producers were following the exact same recipe and process, we should get the exact same product with the right attention,” explains Tommy Amorim, a second-generation cheesemonger at Di Bruno Bros. in Philadelphia. For example, the vast majority of American parm is made with pasteurized milk, not raw milk. “That alone will change the texture and flavor,” he says.
The FDA does regulate the production of certain cheese styles. To be labeled as Parmesan, a cheese must be brittle and grateable, contain certain levels of fat and moisture, and age for at least 10 months. Aside from these and a few other basic rules, American producers have a lot of leeway.
“In the US, you don’t have that same tradition as Italy does with Parmigiano Reggiano, which can be beautiful and in some ways is really binding,” says Allison Schuman, chief revenue officer at New Jersey–based Schuman Cheese, which imports more Parmigiano Reggiano than any other company in the country. “It leaves you less room to be creative and play with flavor profiles.”
Schuman markets its own Parmesan-style Copper Kettle Cheese under the Cello label. Produced by Wisconsin’s Lake Country Dairy, it’s made in copper vats—a technique borrowed from traditional European cheeses like Comté, Gruyère, and, yes, Parmigiano Reggiano—and aged 16 months to create distinctive fruity and caramel notes.
Wisconsin-based BelGioioso works with local dairy farms chosen for the quality of their milk for cheesemaking, even incubating its own lactic acid bacteria starter cultures in house to give the cheese a specific flavor. Its Parmesan is shaped into 24-pound wheels and brined in tanks, a technique that lets the rind develop more slowly as the salt penetrates the wheel, then air-dried and cave-aged for 10 months.
“It’s a very deliberate, intentional process. We’re looking for a nutty, sweet, clean flavor,” says Sofia Auricchio Krans, whose family has been making cheese for five generations. Her father came to the US from Italy and founded BelGioioso in 1979.
However, the lack of regulation around American Parmesan production also opens the door for lower-quality cheese. “The overwhelming majority of Parmesan sold in the US is actually industrially produced in blocks,” says Schuman. Rather than the brining, drying, and cave-aging process that’s used for Parmigiano Reggiano and higher-quality American wheels, commodity parm’s curds are salted directly rather than slowly brined. They’re then compressed, vacuum-sealed in plastic, and aged to the 10-month mark when the cheese can legally be sold as Parmesan.
Is Italian Parmesan really better?
It’s hard to argue with Parmigiano Reggiano’s literally ancient history and storied reputation as the king of cheese, but Parmesan is an offshoot of Parmigiano Reggiano’s global legacy. Stateside parm producers like BelGioioso, Sartori, and pizzeria favorite Grande were started by Italian immigrants who brought their own cheesemaking traditions to the US, then adapted and introduced them to a new market.
“I’ve seen people call American parm ‘fake,’ and I think that’s a little snobby,” says Peggy Paul Casella, recipe tester, cookbook editor, and creator of the website Thursday Night Pizza. She notes that more expensive imports aren’t necessarily available or accessible for many cooks—and in recipes with a lot of flavors, the distinction might not be that obvious. “If you did a taste test between American parm and Parmigiano Reggiano in a pesto, I would guess that most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference,” she says.
Even some die-hard fans of PDO Parmigiano have a soft spot for American brands. Amorim relies on Grande and BelGioioso if he can’t get his hands on imports, acknowledging the contributions of those immigrant cheesemakers. “We buy the story behind the product as much as the quality,” he says. “For me, the story of coming to the United States to find a little bit of the American dream is more than enough.”
And some American parm producers offer their own higher-end wedges produced with more of an artisanal touch, including Schuman’s Copper Kettle and Sartori’s SarVecchio. BelGioioso’s American Grana is shaped into 65-pound wheels that age between 18 and 24 months on wood boards—another traditional technique borrowed from Old World cheesemaking. “The way that cheese is treated, its size, and longer aging creates more complexity,” says Auricchio Krans. “It has a deeper, nutty flavor with a nice granular texture.”
How to choose a quality Parmesan—or Parmigiano
Regardless of where your parm, or Parmigiano, was made, you can spot a higher-quality variety by looking at its appearance and how it’s cut and packaged. Look for a texture that’s more cakey and crumbly than smooth and glassy. The interior should be hay-colored; in older wedges, little white specks called tyrosine crystals should be evenly distributed throughout. Though they’re flavorless themselves, those crystals indicate a flavorful, well-matured wheel and offer a pleasant crunch. The rind should look natural, not waxy, and shouldn’t be too thick—a sign that the wheel was dried too quickly during aging. If the cheese is labeled as “Parmigiano Reggiano,” you’ll see that name dotted into the rind. A hunk that’s been cut and plastic-wrapped in the store might seem fresher, but plastic wrap is actually much less effective than vacuum sealing at protecting flavor and texture.
It’s a lot to think about, but you don’t have to be an expert to choose a quality wedge. Amorim, who has worked behind the counter at Di Bruno Bros. for 15 years, recommends seeking out products with the PDO seal. “That takes out all the guesswork,” he says. “As a consumer, I can put my trust in the Consortium to standardize that base level of excellence.”
The right wedge also depends on what you’re using it for and how much you want to spend. If Paul Casella is making a baked mac and cheese that calls for Parmesan to be sprinkled on top, “I’ll go for an extra-aged American parm because it’s cheaper,” she says. “On a dish like that, you’re not going to taste the difference very much.”
Recipes with fewer ingredients, or in which the cheese plays a bigger role, are a reason to reach for higher-end Parmesan or imported Parmigiano Reggiano—like when you’re finishing a minimalist pizza, grating cheese over a simple pasta, or adding the finishing touch to a green salad. “That’s when you want a true Parmigiano Reggiano that’s super aged, with a flaky, crystalline texture,” she says. Ditto for enjoying the cheese as is on a board with a glass of fizzy prosecco or lambrusco.
A real live cheesemonger like Amorim is a great resource for choosing the perfect Parmesan for your needs. But Paul Casella—whose recipe testing work for cookbooks, like Joe Beddia’s Pizza Camp, often necessitates online shopping for groceries—notes that you can find high-quality options, whether they’re imported or domestic, at most supermarkets. “BelGioioso is the one that I get the most, because it’s the most widely available for me,” she says. “But if I’m doing something really simple, I’m going to spend the extra five bucks for a wedge of the DOP.”
