Parmigiano Reggiano Celebrates Negroni Week
Anyone who knows me knows I love cheese, and I particularly love Parmesan. You can imagine my delight when ONIN was invited to an exclusive Parmigiano Reggiano cocktail evening at Ginger Lily Bar and Lounge at Pan Pacific Hotel.
I’ve been to other Parmigiano Reggiano tasting events where I’ve learnt about the unique flavours that surround different ages of Parmigiano Reggiano, but each time I learn something new. Parmigiano Reggiano’s minimum maturation is 12 months though it fully expresses its typical characteristics at 24 months. Parmigiano Reggiano even does 100 month old cheeses! Though I’ve never tasted it, I’ve loved all the tastings I’ve done of Parmigiano Reggiano over the years so I’m sure I’d love it if I ever have the chance to try it. At last week’s event we were able to try the 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 month old Parmigiano Reggiano. Each taste of Parmigiano Reggiano was accompanied by a cocktail created exclusively for this event by renowned mixologist Alex Nieto. The cocktails combine traditional and innovative flavours to bring out the best in the Parmesan.
Starting us off was the 12 month old Parmesan, the youngest of the bunch. This has delicate flavours of milk, yoghurt and butter and as such enhances salads or cold dishes, and pair well with sparkling white wines. It has a sweet and fruity aroma. For this reason it was matched with a Tomato Spritz which was Prosecco with tomato clarified cordial. The cordial uses fresh tomatoes, agar agar, sugar and citric acid. I couldn’t taste much of a tomato note but others could. It was very easy to drink and was the favourite of a few people I talked to.
Next we had the 24 month old. This is more crumbly and grainy with notes of fruit, nuts and meat stock. There were more visible white crystals and it was darker than the 12 month which means it’s an older cheese. It suits most Italian pasta dishes (shaved or grated), shaved over beef or fish, and the rind can be used in soups like minestrone. It pairs well with medium bodied wines. This was served with a white negroni made with Plymouth gin.
The 36 month old was nuttier than the previous Parmigiano Reggiano. The white crystals are more evident and larger, resulting in the cheese being more grainy. There were aromas of nut and spices and as such it pairs well with full-bodied red wines. We had this with a Mediamar, made by combining truffle infused vodka and basil infused vermouth. To create this, first the vodka and truffle oil were frozen for 24 hours, and the basil and vermouth were stewed for 24 hours. This was a unique cocktail and
Our penultimate tasting was the 48 month old Parmigiano Reggiano. This has smoky, meat stock aromas. It is drier as seen by more crystals, and is harder to break due to its maturity. A spicy Mezcal margarita, the rim coated in lime juice and rolled in crushed chilli flakes, matched perfectly due to smokiness and spices of the parmesan. This was my favourite pairing of the evening.
Finally, we tasted the 60 month old. This was the one I was most excited about as I haven’t tried it before. Keeping with the pattern it was more grainy than the last but had a more earthy feel. It has a nutty, sharp and tangy profile. For this reason it is not often used in cooking. To celebrate Negroni Week, a negroni using Plymouth gin, Cocchi Di Torino and Campari accompanied it. This was my second favourite pairing of the evening given the boldness of the cheese and cocktail.
I can’t wait to eat the Parmigiano Reggiano in my goody bag and play around with tasting profiles. It really is true that Parmigiano Reggiano is the only Parmesan cheese
Website: https://www.parmigianoreggiano.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parmigianoreggianouk
Written by Caitlin Neal
