Similarly to the hops-barley-water-yeast combination that culminates in beer, we all know that milk is churned and whey extracted; meat is cured with a shrivelling quantity of salt and constant gust of air. Both are left to absorb and flavours intensify.
On my trip to Italy it was still a marvel to visit Grana Padano cheese and Prosciutto di San Daniele factories during a cheese, ham and wine inhalation across north-east Italy. It’s a mawkish notion but passion, care and proximity to the source truly enhances the flavour. Unsurprisingly, in a nation where every course is a meal in itself, there is a buoyant patriotism towards the certified produce of the region.
While in Italy I travelled to see the Italian equivalents of regulated produce in and around Veneto region. I toured the factories of two prime exports that have been awarded a similar sort of culinary copyright: Grana Padano cheese and Prosciutto di San Daniele. Both are created with specific methods that are EU safe-guarded in the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) scheme. Consortiums have been established as a branch of PDO to protect the century-old methods of production and unique attributes only the air of Veneto and expertise in Lake Garda can yield. This trip demonstrated first-hand that authoritative regulation and artisanal cuisine can co-exist.
As we chatted on the tour, conversation led to precarious nature of the sky-grazing shelves of cheese. We were led into the factory offices and shown the devastating consequences for the Grana Padano factory. Due to the freestanding, dauntingly high shelves that store the hulk of wheels, the tremor caused them to waver, topple and fall, ending in a domino-effect calamity. The hardened outer layers that kept the cheese within intensifying in flavour and free from pathogens ruptured. Not a single wheel could be savaged out of approximately 100, 000.
Across large scale factories and smaller producers the Prosciutto di San Daniele is cured using two ingredients: salt and air. Combined climates from the Adriatic Sea and Alps provide the distinct flavour of the ham. The quality of the ham is assessed by being penetrated with a pin made from a horse bone. This particular material is adept at absorbing the redolent aroma quickly enough for a scent-test before fading, ready for the next.
San Daniele hosts an annual street festival over a June weekend to celebrate and consume the ham. Due to the nearby borders of Austria and Slovenia the 8, 000 resident town becomes awash with eager patrons of prosciutto. A favoured approach of consumption is wrapping each vanishingly thin slice around a breadstick. There are stalls at the festival ranging from salami from a variety of arcane animals, mountains of spices, an array of chutneys and liquors, and, incongruously, lavender stalls and memory foam mattress outlets.
Pride, care and a fair amount of EU regulation create the copyrighted Grana Padano cheese and Prosciutto di San Daniele. Respect is due for continuing millennia-old practises and eschewing additives and preservatives. Both are made with risk and rigorous rules, but curing and Cazzaro aside, the greatest accomplishment is the flavour. Representatives of both consortiums exhort us to eat the respective labours of love alone to truly savour the taste. With that in mind, Grana Padano is best enjoyed with young, fresh, and light white wines such as Pinot Blanc. Whereas the sparkling wines such as Prosecco and Franciacorta, rosé wines and young, very light and soft, low-in-tannin red wines.
For more information please contact shelley.george@cohnwolfe.com. Grana Padano and Prosciutto di San Daniele can be purchased in most major supermarkets and select delis, and enjoyed anywhere, in any meal.