Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [13]
How to buy it, how to store it If you have the choice, do not buy a precut wedge of parmigiano-reggiano, but ask that it be cut from the wheel. To protect the cheese’s special qualities, one must keep it from drying out. The more it is cut up, the more it loses moisture, until it begins to taste sharp and coarse. For the same reason, never buy any Parmesan in grated form and, at home, grate it only when you are ready to use it.
Take a careful look at the cheese you are about to buy. It should be a dewy, pale amber color, uniform throughout, without any dry white patches. In particular, look at the color next to the rind: If it has begun to turn white, the cheese has been stored badly and is drying out. If there is a broad chalk white rim next to the rind, the cheese is no longer in optimum condition. If there are no visible defects, ask to taste it. It should dissolve creamily in the mouth, its flavor nutty and mildly salty, but never harsh, sharp, or pungent.
When you have found an example of parmigiano-reggiano that meets all requirements, you might be well advised to buy a substantial amount. If it is more than you expect to use in two or three weeks’ time, divide it into two pieces, or more if it is exceptionally large. Each piece must be attached to a part of the rind. First wrap it tightly in wax paper, then wrap it in heavy-duty aluminum foil. Make sure no corners of cheese poke through the foil. Store on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator.
If you are keeping the cheese a long while, check it from time to time. If you find that the color has begun to lose its amber hue and is becoming chalkier, moisten a piece of cheesecloth with water, wring it until it is just damp, then fold it around the cheese. Wrap the cheese in foil and refrigerate for a day or two. Unwrap the Parmesan, discard the cheesecloth, rewrap the cheese in wax paper and aluminum foil, and return it to the refrigerator.
Note As a product of cow’s milk, parmigiano-reggiano usually makes a more harmonious contribution to those preparations, and particularly to pasta sauces, that have a butter rather than an olive oil base. It is hardly ever grated on pasta or risotto that contain seafood, because seafood in Italy is nearly always cooked in olive oil. Like all rules, this one is meant to supply guidance rather than impose dogma. It should be applied with discrimination, taking account of exceptions, a notable one being pesto, which requires the use of both Parmesan and olive oil.
FLAT-LEAF PARSLEY
Prezzemolo
Italian parsley is the variety with flat, rather than curly, leaves. Italians are likely to say of someone whom they are always running into, “He—or she—is just like parsley.” It is the fundamental herb of Italian cooking. It is found nearly everywhere, and there are comparatively few sauces for pasta, few soups, and few meat dishes that don’t begin by sautéing chopped parsley with other ingredients. On many occasions, it is added again, raw, sprinkled over a finished dish that, without the fresh parsley fragrance hovering over it, might seem incomplete.
Curly parsley is not a satisfactory substitute, although it is better than no parsley at all. If you have difficulty finding Italian parsley, when you do come across it you might try buying a substantial quantity and freezing some of it. When the fall-out over Italy from Chernobyl made it impossible for a time to use any leaf vegetable or herb, I cooked with frozen parsley.