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GRANA, THE KING OF CHEESE
Rome - (Adnkronos Multimedia) - almost 900 years of history, for a product which has become one of the symbols of the Po valley, protected by a strict system of Denomination of Origin and which each year generates almost € 1 billion worth of business. This is Grana Padano (www.granapadano.com), one of Italy's "noble" cheeses most envied and imitated.
Its history is enshrouded in legend, and dates back to the middle ages, when in the vast countryside around the Great River Po, hunger reigned supreme and it was unthinkable to waste anything of the few products which the land and livestock managed to produce. The monks who at the time reclaimed the land around the Po wondered how to keep the milk which was not drunk during the day. The only way was to turn it into cheese, but not into a fresh cheese, as was usually done at the time. They instead produced a hard cheese, which could be kept for months, or even years. It is said that the cheese was invented in 1135 by the friars of the abbey of Chiaravalle, near Milan. The idea was immediately imitated by other monasteries and the first cheese dairies were thus born. The monks called it caseus vetus, Latin for 'old cheese'. But the people gave it another name, derived from the unusual nature of its consistency, which was grainy. Thus was born the name of formaggio di grana or more simply grana, which was distinguished on the basis of the provinces in which it was produced: in Lodi, considered by many the first; in Milan; or in Parma, whose cheeses were subsequently differentiated to become what is now known as Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan); in Piacenza; and in Mantova.
It was immediately considered a fine cheese, and became one of the luxury foods of the aristocracy and monarchy, so much so that in 1504, Isabella d'Este, Duchess of Mantova, gave Grana as personal presents, to her father Alfonso and to her brother Ferdinando, lords of Ferrara. In the first half of the 19th century, the first industrial dairies were set up, and in 1954 there were finally established regulations for the protection of the Denomination of Origin of cheeses, including Grana Padano. On 18 June 1954, the Consortium for the Protection of Grana Padano was founded, which for over half a century has united all the producers, maturers and retailers of this excellent cheese.
In 2003, production reached levels of over 4 million cheeses, 850,000 of which were sold abroad, with an increase in exports of around 10% on the previous year. Production is concentrated above all in five areas: the province of Mantova (25.8 % of the entire production), that of Brescia (23.1 %), followed by the areas of Cremona (14.8 %), Piacenza (12.1 %) and Vicenza (6.7 %). More than half of the production comes from small structures organised into cooperatives, and around 45% from industrial facilities, which guarantees the continuation of a production method which ensures excellent quality.
The Consortium for the Protection of Grana Padano is always vigilant. The leaders of the consortium explained that "we have provided for a significant increase in quality and in fact the amount of cheese excluded from the DOP brand has significantly increased. Changes have also been introduced to the regulations, with the aim of obtaining an increasingly strict selection of the raw material for use in Grana Padano". Grana Padano has thus been able to strengthen its leadership on international markets and in exports, confirming its position as the Italian DOP cheese most consumed in the world. Since 2004 moreover, it has been decided to present the cheese according to various categories, divided by age and quality. Consequently, in addition to the traditional Grana Padano, you can today find Grana Padano which has been matured for over 16 months, and Grana Padano "Riserva", which has been matured for at least 20 months and has a structural and aromatic characteristics which place it in the highest quality bracket, destined for the most refined and demanding palates.
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