How Parmesan Cheese Is Made

So you're sitting in a restaurant,

maybe you order the pasta

and your waiter says "Would you like some parmesan with

that?"

You say "yes" and take an egregious mound full, but guess what?

That's not real parmesan!

The authentic version is called Parmigiano Reggiano.

For over a thousand years it's been required by law

that it be made only in certain parts of Italy in a very specific

way,

anything else out there that you see is just an imitation.

But I've always had a deep desire to know the secret of how it's

made,

and even make a wheel myself.

So I've arrived in the Italian countryside to work with Italy's greatest cheese maker

and they promised me

if I can do what they do daily they'll let me taste the rarest

cheese on planet Earth worth $70,000 a wheel!

And no, it isn't normal Parmesan.

And that journey starts right here on the cow farm at 4:00 in the

morning at one of the most authentic Parmigiano Reggiano factories in all of Italy

Malandrone. but I'm not doing this alone we have chef

and culinary adventurer Mr z here to help guide me through this

and translate along the way i'm going to get down

and dirty creating my own wheel from start to finish

and this is where it comes from we're about to see these magical cows

are you ready for their others yeah it's 4 in the morning i'm standing

here waiting for the cows let's go one of them is starting already

so they're disinfecting the other making sure there are no bacterias everything is clean

crazy i mean it's like spraying some of them have started without being touched

we've all been there

so go for it disinfect the other i'm scared

and then you have to pull them how do I do it like like

this three fingers and pull down now you have experience in

that it's fine very good success after disinfecting it was time to put the

Can't believe I'm saying this

but uh the milking machine on Yeah excellent oh oh no okay all right

it's harder than I thought it would be how does it feel it's kind

of like a game the milking game parmesan making is such a delicate process

if you think about it you take the milk you end up with a

whole wheel of cheese i don't think it's

that simple i think there's probably a few other steps right well we'll find

out we'll find out soon

but now it's time for the cows to head back home

so we could see where this milk was stored all the,800 liters of milk

extracted this morning from 120 cows coming straight here 37° straight from the others

you want to go check it out this is a very safe ladder

as well yeah this ladder looks very OSHA safe oh wow it smells amazing

i I want to drink it i might you know the cows weren't the

only animal friends lurking around this farm there's a cat it's a good thing

Kate isn't here kate would be like "Oh we gonna take the cat home

put it on the plane."

No no we have two all right cute cat we're on our mission to

make the highest the greatest cheese

and surprisingly the rarest Parmesan Rajano in the world comes from only three ingredients

first whole milk we got from the cows

which contains the skim milk

and the natural starter known

as the way and

then second salt and third renet

which turns the liquid cheese solid we'll explain

that later though it's a miracle

that only three ingredients can make the number one cheese in the world

but as beautiful as

that sounds there's a battle raging in this room every day between good

and bad bacteria if good bacteria wins we get unparalleled flavor

and consistency but if the bad bacteria wins the entire process falls apart to

a complete failure only

if done properly can we create a wheel of the world's best cheese

so I will do my best to not this up

while our 1,800 L of raw milk was being collected we moved to the

dairy and as soon

as I stepped inside my mind was blown our first ingredient milk this is

the leftover milk that sat out overnight the fat rises forming a layer of

the fattiest creamiest of cream wow insane the way it clings to your finger

is unbelievable can you smell it oh smells unbelievable oh incredible before we make

the cheese though we need to get you undressed

and dressed up i'll just stay undressed butt naked apron

as long as your bacterias are good yeah oh they're good they're real good

if I was going to work alongside a master cheese maker feel like I'm

going to have to look the part joshua please meet Paulo the head cheese

maker and his son Andrea paulo's been making cheese since he was 15 years

old he's the pinnacle of this house of the gods are you ready on

to my first test i unccorked the hole

and let the milk flow we need to separate the aged milk from the

cream we have to time this perfectly to not lose a single drop of

the liquid gold that is the cream

and as soon as it gets thicker we're going to go

and close it it's almost a little bit stressful these vats are

so big that if they don't time this right they lose out on some

of the most crucial parts of the cheese making process

so step by step you see they slowly close the top

so they're coaxing the milk out of this basically

as much as possible the fact

that it's just two people at 5:00 in the morning father

and son walking in by hand extracting this this is like a lost art

almost it is a lost art

so this now is cream it's not milk anymore i want to put it

on the ground and

then what was full of milk

and cream is just cream now the next steps are going to be super

delicate you see the

that wooden thing they're going to use

that to scrape because they don't want to lose even one ml of this

liquid gold so this is the first pull of the heavy cream

so we're going to pull this yeah

and then I I'll scrape oh yeah wow have you ever seen

so much cream in your life uh in my bedroom

so Paulo put me to work scraping every last drop of cream

which seemed easy enough

but so in the time

that it took me to finish my two they've done two four six of

them so triple the amount of work

that I did but uh you know it's my first time i I did

okay now what happening is

that we're waiting for the milk from the farm the ones

that you just And

then we're going to have to mix 50% of

that milk with the skimmed milk

and then we're going to use a little bit of the whey a little

bit of renet and

then we're going to start cooking it all the protein of milk we're going

to have to break them to grain particles in this way we can achieve

the perfect cheese can you hear oh the tractor yeah it's our milk let's

go component 2 has arrived it is now time to add to the mix

this milk is going to go into the bath they don't want to use

pumps because as soon

as you use pumps you risk to damage the integrity of the milk

so they use gravity to transport the milk into the barrel 50% of the

skimmed milk and 50% of the fat milk

so he's literally preparing the starter splitting it evenly

but as you can see there is no measuring scale everything is made by

hand made by eye

so we're measuring it at this stage waiting for it to get to

that line and now we add the starter very heavy now we heat it

up they're bringing it out to 33 35° for the first stage they're heating

it and then he's mixing renet to

then separate it obviously all this liquid isn't going to suddenly become cheese

but what's separated from it will be the cheese the separation part is what's

called coagulation the renet is the coagulant despite using a thermometer the cheese maker

still needs to dip his hand in the boiling hot milk to feel the

consistency of the curds why

because milk changes every day

and only he does it for every single parmesan

that comes out of this production unbelievable

so you added the renet 1 minute of mixing 10 minutes is going to

be coagulated and then we start breaking it with the spino this tool over

here so it was time once again to watch the master at work look

at what he's doing you have to be delicate

and precise in the movement wow

and you know I had to give it a try

which was much harder than it looks oh my god you're strong i want

to be clear the viscosity of this liquid like I I would say I'm

at like 60% power pushing down i wouldn't with this dude very delicate process

here once that coaculated milk is broken up into grain-like pieces they

then crank the heat up to 55° C to begin removing some of the

water from the curd

but now all the heavy particles are going to fall down to the bottom

of the barrel gonna have to let it sleep let it rest for at

least 1 hour but in the meantime we can have some breakfast thank god

let's do that but breakfast didn't last long

because after an hour it was time to pull out these huge blocks we

need to lift the cheese oh lift the cheese it's going to be heavy

sir you ready if this guy is struggling there's noing way I'm going to

Come on oh my come on come on come on jesus Christ i mean

look at this oh come on come on there she is remove remove remove

remove josh josh josh come come come oh wow oh you have to shape

it yes like that shape shape shape shape shape shape we have to tie

it up this up i I don't know how here i don't want to

be Yeah makes me laugh

so much so it's already kind of in the shape a little bit it's

funny i wasn't expecting it to already be in such a round shape

but the basin of these copper vats kind of already pre-shapes it a little

bit it's pretty amazing

and then they're going to cut these in half

as well don't make a hole in the net i'm trying not to i'm

so scared these are two Parmesan wheels

so it's kind of like a perfect life cycle right beginning of the day

they do all this stuff

and by the time they're done they're left over with this sort of like

whey starter liquid that's

then going to sit overnight

and they're going to use it again the next day to use

as a starter or the mother culture

if you will just

so you know how deep this is that's my full arm length

if I were in this

that would be well above my head now once the bats have been drained

a bit it's time to take the cheese out

and put them into their molds very good start shaping it pull it up

pull pull pull pull she's a little big cover

and tuck it in like a baby very good quite the process my god

and finally we have arrived to day zero the start of our parmesano wheel

somehow when you think of age cheese the aging process doesn't even technically begin

until around day 20 on day zero the wheels are flipped multiple times

and that evening they get branded with the iconic dotted parmesan reaniano inscription you

see here but there's more excitement to come before it's officially certified

as genuine Parmesan Reiano it almost smells like fresh like yogurt

and this is the ID card this tells you

which cow came from

which heater who made it what date what time here is a room where

they age up to 2 days to complete the drying process to make sure

there's no water left okay

so it's got some discoloration now it's a little bit more yellow

and not so white this is not parmyo yet

because the branding will happen here

when is authorized by the consortium

so when the consortium comes

when the wheel is ready 12 months after they be like this is okay

and they will stamp it for you wow otherwise you can't sell it

as paragano wow you can literally commit an entire year of aging before you

even get to decide

if it's worthy of the powerful name of Parmesano Reiano the flavor doesn't even

begin until this next step a giant saltwater bath to brine in

which will also help draw out some of

that moisture we're here surrounded by parmesans

that are just sitting in here for 17 days both the seasoning of it

is happening here but also the curing

and it's basically cleaning off the exterior

so it creates a crust

and uh can be aged for years after it's bath it gets a day

in the steam room to further dry out

which I'm a little confused about cuz there's steam in there

but you know what this is their stuff not mine only

then does it move to a place I have only seen in the depths

of my dreams possibly wet ones welcome to the house of the gods oh

my god wow holy wow

so it's aging as we go the smell in here is unbelievable you're getting

like blue cheese toffee uh brown butter

so many different scents combined it's unbelievable

so all of these wheels you'll notice something different colors different ages

but there's one wall it's a little different this one is significantly darker they

kept this wall to showcase you the rarest

and most expensive parmyo wall of all Romania i really appreciate

that you came all the way down here

and you understood from the cow down to the cheese the process

and I feel like we should have him taste a little bite oh you

deserve it yes i'm ready let's do it

but maybe I shouldn't be cheering

so soon you see Mr z apparently has a challenge for me

but he won't say what it is until I first taste a 2-year age

parmesano do you remember how many months does he have to be parmesano 12

12 great can you reckon how many months this is it's definitely more than

12 26 months which usually is what Italians love to eat we're going to

cut a little piece to taste you can smell the butter i smell it

and I immediately am transported back into

that room in there buttery toffee like break it

and smell again oh it comes right out wow there's some crunches do you

feel the little crunches i'm tasting it completely different than I ever have before

it smells like like a baby in a way like milk i think you're

high off the high off the cheese right now a little bit a little

bit having said this I want to give you another challenge

if you pass the challenge I'm going to give you a 20-year-old cheese the

rarest cheese in the world one wheel ever opened in the history of humankind

the Minnelli family they are giving us an opportunity to try history

but remember you have to pass this test first

and it's not going to be an easy test okay come with me now

if I can complete his mystery challenge I'll finally get to taste the rarest

cheese in the world

and be able to truly say

if it is the greatest cheese on earth we are opening a wheel we're

opening a wheel no way really have you ever opened a Parmesan wheel uh

no 60 months of age

which is 5 years 5 years very good majority of Italian population has never

tried a 5-year Parmesan cheese despite feeling like a kid in the candy store

I was nervous even more nervous

that I'm doing it in front of two legends you have to find the

perfect half otherwise this will in the bin okay good luck oh hell now

it's time for me to cut a 5yearaged Parmesano wheel

and even with all these specialized tools this was hard

so step one you cut a straight line around the entire length of the

wheel with a sharp hookshaped knife it looks easier than it is yeah it's

very hard step two using these specialized stabby knives you're going to jab straight

into that line now you're going to hear Mr z yell "Oh,"

or wiggle oil a little bit oil i'm going to find you O Sheila

and then eventually something happens

and by eventually I mean this process took me 25 minutes

which is probably longer than it should have taken anybody how long does it

take you to open one 2 minutes

but after all that hard work yeah oh sh I finally passed the test

yes oh and now try straight from the wheel beautiful look at this oh

the smell smell how completely different this completely different there's another cheese there's still

a distant memory of the room

but it's a little farther away

and now level two the 5-year aged Parmesano one step closer to the 20-year

wo joshua it's too close holy 25 minutes what do you think beyond worth

it i didn't think

that Parmesano could taste like this you can taste every little note the toffee

the sweetness it's more sweet i thought it would be less sweet now the

umami is really present you're still getting the flavor

and the scent from the room

but it's changed in a big way unbelievable

so rich and nutty too this is the greatest parmesano I've ever tasted in

my entire life by far it's about to get better that's impossible the gentleman

over here thought that this was not enough for award for the effort they

wanted to bless us

as you know with the most exclusive hardest to get we get to try

the 20 years old Parmyo Reano from Malandron we're looking at $70,000

but it's not about the cost it's about the time the history the passion

the love wow look at this it's like a a contraband people in this

region pray for this oh my god the sweetness you can smell now too

before it's not so much

but now you can really smell it it's like the Holy Sacrament the texture

is completely different than what I expected

so I've had cheeses from all over the world i've cooked with three Michelin

starred chefs i've tried the best of the best

but this by far is the rarest most expensive most tailored cheese I think

in human existence cheers holy i had a very small bite oh my god

oh my god every single part of your mouth speaking to you now the

floral notes the fruit notes are

so much like unbelievable it's much drier texture- wise less creamy

but more of like a chew like a nice like firm chew the flavor

is so explosive so floral you're getting

that sweetness and the sweetness is

so much more powerful i'm thinking about the whole journey

that we've gone through waking up at 2 in the morning going

and milking the cows washing the bins getting the cream out cooking the milk

separating it i'm physically

and emotionally exhausted and even

then the work is not done the work doesn't stop there it continues in

its slumber in this beautiful church of cheese to age for 12 months right

which already it becomes an incredible product this by far is a perfect example

of what I'm about to say

which is does time make a difference

and it absolutely does it's something

that we've forgotten about in today's culture this is not only a testament of

time but this is the greatest cheese on planet Earth

and now come with us

so you remember that you cooked in the pot number five yes these are

the two number five cheeses you'll sign them oh really the signature will stay

forever wow in 12 months we'll see these wheels just keep watching every single

day for the next 12 months thank you

so much