Parmigiano Reggiano at Luca
Parmigiano Reggiano is the one and only Parmesan cheese. On Friday ONIN were treated to a five course meal plus a cheese tasting courtesy of Parmigiano Reggiano and Luca Restaurant.
Luca is an upmarket Italian eatery located in Clerkenwell. The terrace was stunning with its bricks, fireplace and greenery, creating a lovely warm and cosy atmosphere. It was friendly, relaxed and the service was great.
After some welcome drinks and mingling, we were taken on an insightful journey of the maturation process of Parmigiano Reggiano, and how this impacts taste and texture. For example, the 12 month old Parmigiano Reggiano has an elastic feel due to its youth. We were told to break the cheese and inhale to discover the young notes of fresh milk, butter, and yoghurt. Given its young maturation it pairs perfectly with aperitifs and sparkling wine. The 24 month old was more intense. There were more visible white crystals and it was darker, which we discovered means it’s an older cheese. Breaking the cheese, we found it was both harder and more crumbly. Compared to the 12month it is more buttery and salty, and is best for grating over traditional Iranian dishes such as risotto. It pairs well with a red bodied wine. The 48 month is drier as seen by more crystals, and was also harder to break due to its maturity. As expected it is more spicy, with the nutmeg shining through.
Everyone loved the Parmesan fries and we’d definitely recommend these, especially if like me your two favourite foods are potatoes and cheese! I was intrigued by the warm bagna cauda with crisp seasonal vegetables as I had not heard of this before. I discovered it’s similar to a fondue as you dip raw vegetables into it but in this instance it was made with Parmigiano Reggiano. It was a little bland and I would have liked more flavours to come through. The plate of Tuscan finicchiona and tartare of Hereford beef cured in nebbioloa, crisp potato and Parmigiano Reggiano were my least favourite as due to personal preference I’m not the biggest fan cold and uncooked meats. The burrata with winter panzanella, picked walnuts and radicchio tardiva (£21) intrigued our Italian dinner guest as burrata is not usually served that way in his hometown.
We absolutely loved the roast Orkney scallop with Parmigiano Reggiano, hazelnut, celeriac and white alba truffle. Have these when you go to Luca.
Next, was agnolotti with Parmigiano Reggiano, fondue of white onion, alpine speck and cured egg yolk. It was described as similar to a carbonara style but the sauce is inside the pasta rather than over. The chef said this was his favourite as it is a warming dish, and I also found it warming and filling. The Hereford beef fillet, hen of the woods, boretanne onions confit garlic and Parmigiano Reggiano (£48) was beautifully cooked. I liked the description by the chef that it was a ‘snowfall of Parmesan sitting on top of Parmesan hash’. I’d have this again in a heartbeat.
For desert we had the fine tart of roasted pear and frangipani with 30 month old Parmigiano Reggiano from Vacca Bianca Modenese. This was both sweet with the tart and savoury.
The wines also excelled. We samples Franciacorta Brut from Lombardy, Soave Classico from Veneto, Brunello di Montalcino from Tuscany and Marsala Superiore Dolce from Sicily.
The whole evening just cemented our view that Parmigiana Reggiano with its taste and versatility is the King of Cheeses.
For Parmigiano Reggiano
Instagram: https://instagram.com/parmigianoreggiano
Website: www.parmigianoreggiano.com
For Luca
Address: 88 St John St, London, EC1M4EH
Website: https://luca.restaurant
Instagram: https://instagram.com/luca.restaurant
Written by Caitlin Neal
