The granular, crystal-studded cheese aged 12 to over 100 months in the dairies around Parma. Eaten in chunks with balsamico, grated over everything, and visited at the source.

Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries drained the plain around Parma and Reggio in the Middle Ages and needed a cheese that kept; nine centuries later the recipe is still milk, salt, rennet and time. Boccaccio already joked about a mountain of grated Parmigiano in the 1350s. The consortium fire-brands every approved wheel, dairies like Gennari and San Pier Damiani welcome visitors to the morning make, and ageings now stretch past 100 months for collectors.

3 editor picks for Parmigiano Reggiano in Parma, ranked by editorial score. All Parma signature dishes · Parmigiano Reggiano across every city.