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Cheese-making across the plain
 In the 12th century AD, Benedictine and Cistercian monks embarked upon the daunting task of reclaiming and clearing the Paduan Plain in order to introduce agriculture and animals, including cattle, which were reared for their milk and to work the fields.
The inhabitants were soon producing far more milk than they needed, consequently they had to find a way to preserve it.
As the monks had long understood how to curdle milk and turn it into soft cheese, they quickly came up with a clever solution. They heated the milk and removed the curd, which produced a denser, longer-lasting cheese.
The monks had created a hard cheese whose flavour was enhanced and intensified by ripening. They started to produce this cheese regularly, buying milk from local farmers and markets and setting up special areas in the monasteries where the milk could be boiled in cauldrons and then turned into cheese with specific utensils. With this new cheese came a new profession: dairymen produced the cheese to a special recipe, under the watchful eyes of the monks, and followed it throughout the various production phases until it was ready for ripening.
 The cheese was originally called “caseus vetus” (old cheese) but as time passed, it became known as “grana”, or grain, on account of its grainy appearance.
By the end of the 12th century, “caseus vetus” had become an established product with its own sales network and outlets in the major towns and cities.
The cheese was named after its area of origin, and contemporary documents record it as lodesano, piasentino, melanese and parmesano.
By the early 13th century, under the reign of Frederick II, "formaggio di grana" had become a precious commodity. Its moulds were used in trade and to pay for goods, and it was considered to be a luxury gift. During the Renaissance, it graced the tables of Europe’s nobles under a variety of names: melanese, lodesano, formai de Codogno, piasentino, brassiano, mantovano, and veneto, although these cheeses were collectively known as “grana”, regardless of their place of origin.
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Consorzio per la tutela del Formaggio Grana Padano
