Parmesan ripening

While rennet-coagulated cheese curd may be consumed immediately after manufacture (and a little is), it is rather flavourless and rubbery. Consequently, rennet-coagulated cheeses are ripened (matured) for a period ranging from about 3 weeks for Mozzarella to more than 2 years for Parmesan and extra-mature Cheddar. During this period, a very complex series of biological, biochemical and chemical reactions occur through which the characteristic flavour compounds are produced and the texture altered. 

Elevated ripening temperatures, especially for Cheddar which is now usually ripened at 6-8°C most other varieties are ripened at a higher temperature, e.g. around 14°C for Dutch types or 20-22°C for Swiss types and Parmesan, and hence there is little or no scope for increasing the ripening temperature. 

Parmesan or Grana, as it is known in Italy, is a group of very hard bacteria-ripened, granular-textured cheeses made from partially skimmed cow s milk. They originated in Parma, near Emilia, Italy, hence the name. Special lipolytic enzymes derived from animals are used, in addition to rennet, to produce the characteristic rancid flavor. 

Starter cultures of heat-resistant lactobacilli and S. thermophilus are added, along with rennet, to form the curds. Manufacture and salting of the cheeses take about 20 days, with 12-15 days for brining. They are then stored in cool, ventilated rooms to ripen in one or two years. A fully cured Parmesan keeps indefinitely, is very hard and thus grates easily, and is used for seasoning. Low moisture and low fat contents contribute to its hardness. Parmesan cheese made in the United States is cured for at least ten months. 

Cheese ripening is a slow, and hence an expensive, process, e.g., Parmesan and extramature Cheddar are ripened for at least 18 months. Ripening is still not controllable precisely, i.e., the quality and intensity of flavor cannot be predicted precisely. Therefore, there is an economic incentive for the development of methods for the acceleration of cheese ripening, provided that the flavor and texture can be maintained and characteristic of the variety. 

Enzymatically modified cheeses developed to accelerate the ripening and flavor building blocks can be produced by controlled proteolytic and/or lipolytic enzyme treatment of natural cheese. The most popular enzyme-modified cheeses include Cheddar, Swiss, Parmesan, Romano, Brick, and Blue cheeses [95]. 

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