 |
Choosing
 How should the various types of mature Grana Padano be used in the kitchen?
Mild Grana Padano (12 months) is highly recommended for baking or grilling. The water in the cheese evaporates slowly and the steam it gives off shields the food and delays both caramelising and the so-called Maillard reactions, thus ensuring that the dish is cooked to perfection. Mild Grana Padano is also easily absorbed by liquids and thus is perfect for making sauces. It is also excellent in slivers on meat or salami carpaccio, as well as artichoke, porcini mushroom, and egg salads because it complements and accentuates their flavours rather than drowning them out.
 Medium Grana Padano (12 - 18 months) makes exquisite fillings for meat, vegetables, croquettes and omelettes. Its fuller flavour does not overpower the others, but rather binds, harmonizes and balances the range of organoleptic sensations, without muffling its own unique aroma and taste. This type of cheese contains a higher percentage of water and fats; it takes a little longer to melt, therefore it is excellent for making deliciously crunchy crackers. .
Mature cheeses, ripened for 18 - 24 months, harden more slowly when heated because a large part of the casein has already been broken down into small molecules so it does not clot as easily.
Extra-mature Grana Padano (more than 24 months) is delicious grated over pasta and soups because it does not form sticky globules, which make the dish unsightly and difficult to chew.
Mature Grana Padano is also exquisite in dishes dressed with traditional balsamic vinegar; the cheese's dreamy aromas evaporate on contact with the air and complement the vinegar's penetrating, lingering and intense fragrance. |
 |
|
|
|
©
Consorzio per la tutela del Formaggio Grana Padano