Confused about Parmesan Cheese

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summerf

Assistant Cook
Joined
Feb 8, 2008
Messages
27
Location
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Hi, I recently found a recipe for a dip which I would like to make for my christmas party. It calls for 2 cups of grated parmasean cheese. Does this mean "fresh" or do I use the container of kraft grated cheese. Is there a difference in taste?
I live in Canada but I do wish everyone across the border a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday.
Summer
 
There is a huge difference from fresh to the pre packaged stuff. You get a more moist and fresh taste of the cheese as compared to the dry taste of the packaged stuff. Good luck.
 
There is a huge difference in taste between the cheese in the green can and freshly grated parmesan cheese. The best of all would be freshly grated parmegiano reggiano.
 
The green canned stuff is the lowest form of parm cheese there is. Pre-grated cheese is never as good as buying a chunk of cheese and grating it yourself as you need it. As soon as you grate it the cheese will start to dry out and that is not what you want.
 
I bought fresh once. Big difference, but it was not worth it to me to always have it on hand and spend the time microplaning it to get any kind of quantity, plus it was pretty pricey, so I went back to the "yucky" stuff. Much handier and it does impart some flavor. I don't use parmesan enough to really care which I use.
 
Fresh is better. The refrigerated version of the pre-grated is second best.
The powdered stuff should be banned.
 
If you have a Food Processor , it takes seconds to grate 2 cups of wedge or block of parmesan cheese. I keep a wedge of parmesan vacuum sealed in the freezer.
 
Parmesan cheese isn't a "fresh" cheese. It's a hard, aged cheese. The longer its aged the better.

But a good quality parmesan, freshly grated, bears no resemblance whatsoever to the pregrated powdery stuff in a can or jar. The latter hardly tastes like cheese. Plus it's often hard to use in recipes because it's so dry, things come out grainy.
 
Freshly grated parmegiano reggiano is the premier parmesan IMO ----
I don't know your recipe, but for a party dip, I would be tempted to consider a good brand of grated parmesan out of your grocer's dairy case ----
I would not consider the product in the Green can ----

Enjoy!
 
True parmesan cheese is considered the king of cheeses. And I have to agree. The stuff in the can isn't parmesan at all because parmesan cheese is imported from Italy, Parma to be exact and the taste is far superior than the "fake" stuff. Don't spoil an otherwise great dish with the canned stuff.
And by the way, imported parmesan cheese is just cheese. Take a look at the ingredients side of the can and tell me what you see. GAG!
 
For a few bucks you can get a cheese grater and keep a hunk of Parmegiano or Romano in it. I store it in the refigerator in a plastic bag. It is as fast to grate as getting out the green box. There is no comparison in taste. I'm not sure that the box stuff is less or more expensive. For my taste, Pecorino Romano is an ecceptable substitute, but either must be fresh grated.
 
The stuff in the can isn't parmesan at all because parmesan cheese is imported from Italy, Parma to be exact and the taste is far superior than the "fake" stuff. Don't spoil an otherwise great dish with the canned stuff.


"Parmesan" is a type of cheese that can be made anywhere.

It is a DOP protected name only in Europe.

The DOP protected cheese can be made in places other than Parma, actually.

List of Italian PDO cheeses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I agree that the canned stuff is terrible.
 
I make this killer artichoke and parmesan dip every new years eve, it has 2 cups of that green canned stuff, 2 cans of artichokes, one marinated, one in water-drained, and mayo to bind. Then bake until bubbly. I'm certain it would be better with real parmesan, I just can't afford it especially with this economy.
 
I make this killer artichoke and parmesan dip every new years eve, it has 2 cups of that green canned stuff, 2 cans of artichokes, one marinated, one in water-drained, and mayo to bind. Then bake until bubbly. I'm certain it would be better with real parmesan, I just can't afford it especially with this economy.

Gee, I was beginning to think I was the only person on this site who will admit to eating the stuff in the green canister :LOL: It is what it is. I like "crap in a box", too (Kraft mac and cheese). Amazing Kraft can even stay in business selling all that yucky stuff :LOL:

I just got the mail and Parm regg is on sale this week for $12.99/lb. That's $7 off according to the ad. That's 3x as much as what I paid those steaks a while back :ohmy: I eat steak every week. I eat parmesan cheese 3x/year. If I ate it more regularly I might be able to justify keeping fresh around. Homie's palate don't roll that way. ;)
 
Gee, I was beginning to think I was the only person on this site who will admit to eating the stuff in the green canister :LOL: It is what it is. I like "crap in a box", too (Kraft mac and cheese). Amazing Kraft can even stay in business selling all that yucky stuff :LOL:

I just got the mail and Parm regg is on sale this week for $12.99/lb. That's $7 off according to the ad. That's 3x as much as what I paid those steaks a while back :ohmy: I eat steak every week. I eat parmesan cheese 3x/year. If I ate it more regularly I might be able to justify keeping fresh around. Homie's palate don't roll that way. ;)

Parmesan Pals for life. :LOL::LOL::LOL:
I actually like it, especially on buttered popcorn. The real grated stuff without the filler in the green canister.
 
I eat parmesan cheese 3x/year. If I ate it more regularly I might be able to justify keeping fresh around.
Maybe if you ate good tasting cheese instead of old dried out mass produced junk then you would want to eat it more than 3x a year ;)

I am just joking (sort of). I have no problem with people eating and liking the stuff from the can. More power to you. There are plenty of things I eat that are junk. Everyone's palate is different and if you can enjoy a lower quality product then there is nothing wrong with that IMO.
 
I just got the mail and Parm regg is on sale this week for $12.99/lb. That's $7 off according to the ad. That's 3x as much as what I paid those steaks a while back :ohmy: I eat steak every week. I eat parmesan cheese 3x/year. If I ate it more regularly I might be able to justify keeping fresh around. Homie's palate don't roll that way. ;)


That's very expensive cheese. Good quality Parm-Reg need not be $20/lb.
I'm sure you can find it cheaper. Or use grana padano if you can find that.
 
I think if I were making a dip that had lots of other ingredients I may use the green can. I don't really think it's all that cheap for the green can either since you can usually get a small amount of better cheese at the cheese dept. Does any of what I just wrote make sense? :wacko::wacko::wacko:
 
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