In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticleWhat Is Parmesan Cheese?So Why Isn’t Parmesan Cheese Vegetarian?Is Any Parmesan Cheese Vegetarian?Bottom Line
In This ArticleView All
View All
In This Article
What Is Parmesan Cheese?
So Why Isn’t Parmesan Cheese Vegetarian?
Is Any Parmesan Cheese Vegetarian?
Bottom Line
Used to be, when I thought of vegetarian proteins, cheese came quickly to mind. I’ve often thrown together a veggie dish likeeggplant parmesanorpasta with broccolishowered with cheese for my meat-averse friends. So when this question came up, I thought the answer was obvious.Parmesanis cheese! And not just any obscure cheese—it’s one of the world’s most popular types, a global marketvalued at $16.4 billion in 2022. It’s widely used insalad kits, meal kits, frozen foods and restaurants all the way from quick-serve to fine dining. Ofcourseit’s vegetarian! Otherwise, how would it cater to so many?
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However, the answer isn’t as cut and dried as a slice of this beloved hard cheese. Rather, Parmesan is yet another example of how important it is to read food labels and understand the ingredients in our fridges and our food. Let’s get granular about it.
First of all, Parmesan cheese is a general term with multiple interpretations. At the top of the hierarchy of this categorization sits authentic Parmigiano Reggiano.
“Crafted exclusively of only three ingredients —rennet, salt and raw, unpasteurized milk—Parmigiano Reggiano bears the EU designation of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or in Italian, Denominazione di Origine Protetta (DOP), which indicates that it has distinctive characteristics tied to its area of origin,” sharesMichele Casadei Massari, U.S. brand ambassador ofParmigiano Reggiano,.
For this cheese, that also means it’s made solely in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Mantua (but only to the right of the Po River) or Bologna (only to the left of the Reno River). Every step of its production, from milking to grating, must occur here.
So while Parmigiano Reggiano is Parmesan cheese, most Parmesan cheese is not Parmigiano Reggiano.
For example, there’s fellow DOP-regulated Parmesan Grana Padano, which can be produced across a wider geographic area, whose production may include a protein found in egg whites to keep fermentation more controlled, and allows it to be sold after a 9-month minimum versus 12 months for Parmigiano Reggiano, he explains.
Then we have the unregulated American-made Parmesan cheeses. While they may be delicious and claim to be made and aged in the same way, they can never be called Parmigiano Reggiano.
This answer is encapsulated in one word: rennet. Specifically animal rennet, collected from slaughtered cows, goats or other young, milk-fed ruminant animals.
“As a key part of the age-old production process of Parmigiano Reggiano,” which goes back nearly a thousand years, Casadei Massari says, “milk slowly and naturally coagulates with the addition of the enzyme rennet.” Many,manycheeses are made with animal rennet, including Pecorino Romano, Gorgonzola, Gruyère, manchego and some Cheddars and mozzarellas.Organic Valley’s Marketing ManagerAndrew Westrichadds, “Production of all hard cheeses requires usage of rennet-type enzymes.”
For example,Organic Valley Shredded Parmesanmakes a vegetarian-friendly version, solely “so more people can enjoy Parmesan’s complex flavors,” Westrich says. Their use of organic milk from pasture-raised cows and a 300-day aging process is what he credits with being able to re-create the rich, deep taste of its Italian DOP counterpart.
So is Parmesan cheese vegetarian? While Parmigiano Reggiano is not, it is possible to find vegetarian Parmesan cheese at the grocery store. If you want to avoid cheese made with rennet, look for cheeses labeled vegetarian or check the ingredient list for enzymes instead of rennet. You might just discover a new product to fall in love with.
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