Hi all,<BR> After some months of watching Mario Eats Italy, I went and got some genuine, imported from Italy, Parmegiano Reggiano, which is not easy to do in rural Georgia, USA.<BR><BR> Is it supposed to taste somewhat like a dried Norwegian Jarlsberg cheese?

Noooooo.<BR><BR>It's a strong tasted granular cheese, usually used grated for cooking.<BR><BR>If it's young you can eat thin slices of it, and it's nice in very thin slices in salad as well.<BR><BR>It is wonderful. I don't know if you get dried grated parmesan in drums in the US-the comparison I would make is with that sort of olive oil our mothers put in our ears- but the real thing is nothing like that.

You can order by mail fom William-Sonoma.

Hello again, Ira. You are so funny. Try it slivered with green onions and good olive oil over thin slices of bresaola. (or if you can't find that in rural Georgia, try pepperoni slices -- I can hear Italian travelers shrieking all over the world, but hey, we make do.) J.

Hi all,<BR> Thanks for your responses. I think I shall have to try mail-order.

www.esperya.com is not cheap but they do sell great food. Check it out (it is based in Italy).

We buy it grated. Use a frozen cooking sheet and place a Silipat (buy at Bed Bath and Beyond) on the cookie sheet (nothing sticks to it). We put the crumbled Parmegiano Reggiano on the sheet in little rounds, bake until brown and in minutes you have delicious Parmegiano Reggiano crisps.

you can also try igourmet.com for mail order. they have a lot of cheeses, and I've had good luck with them.<BR>

Ira, there are alot of chheses claiming to be the real thing, some of the fake grated have an almost soapy taste compaired to the taste of the real thing. The wheel is stamped with the official logo. If it doesn't have it, it's not real. call the William-Sonoma 800 number for a catalog. They usually have a photo.

Do not buy grated, it is the equivalent of sawdust. Any good Italian market will have the real deal. In Charlotte, we have Pasta &amp; Provisions for example.

http://www.fcs.it/parmigiano.htm<BR>www.parmiano.it/scrips/uk/chiasm-uk.html

Just seeing your thread's title cracked me up. Just as many of us on here laugh about the Travel Channel's non-stop televising of everything &quot;Vegas&quot;, my kids and I get a kick out of Moldo Mario going on and on and on and on about Parmesano Reggiano. I bought a big block of imported PR at BJ's warehouse. I found it rather boring. I guess I'm more of a Fontina or Pecorino Sicliana guy.

&quot;it is the equivalent of sawdust.&quot;<BR><BR>NOT, if you bake it.

I'm fortunate that even our local Costco (warehouse 'Sams Club' type store) carries real Parmegiano Reggiano. I only buy this in a wedge from a wheel, never grated (it dries out too quickly once grated). It freezes well so if you order a big wedge (from Williams Sonoma, etc.) cut it into 2-3 sections and freeze what you won't need in the next two weeks.<BR><BR>I use a carrot peeler to get thin slivers/slices to put on salads or soup. It's also good in small pieces with a drop of good balsalmic on it. After dinner, I may serve it with sliced fruit.

maitaitom, that sounds great!<BR>We also like to just make a salad of greens with thin slivers on top

I beg to differ, no real cook would have that crap in a cardboard tube in their kitchen. Of course, if you like sawdust...to each his own.

Brut: &quot;That crap in the cardboard tube&quot; is not Parmigiano Reggiano because the proper name cannot be used on fake stuff. The real thing, grated in the store from an authentic wheel and sold in deli containers, can be perfectly fine although it tends to dry out if not kept tightly sealed and used fairly quickly.<BR><BR>Ira: Google &quot;parmigiano reggiano&quot; (that's the correct spelling) for links to the authentic producers in Italy and North American cheesemongers who sell over the internet. Buon appetito.<BR><BR>The name &quot;Parmesan&quot; is widley used on all kinds of junk.

Bruteforce,<BR>You can buy a chunk of Parmiggiano/Reggiano and have it grated at the store. This does not in any way taste like Krafts grated Parmesan.<BR>Which you are right, it tastes like Salty Sawdust<BR>I buy chunks and grate them at home..lasts longer~

Tip:When grating your P-R and are left with only the end or heel don't throw it out.Toss it into a pot of chicken soup.It flavors the soup and acquires a semi-soft chewy quality.Ejoy.

Try this: eat a thin slice of parmigiano reggiano; immediately after take a sip of Schramberg's (sp?) &quot;champagne&quot; and delight as the taste explodes in your mouth! So yummy, but oh god, so rich.