Parmesan texture

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. 

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. 

The texture is characteristic for the variety and ranges from crumbly, e.g., Parmesan and Cheshire, to elastic, e.g., Emmental or Gouda, from close, e.g., Cheddar, to open, e.g.. Blue, from very firm, e.g., Gruyere, to fluid, e.g., Camembert. 

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. 

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