Grana

A generic name for a delicious cow’s milk cheese used for grating, of which Parmigiano-Reggiano is the most famous. The flavor of grana can alternately be nutty, salty, and sweet. It is grated over the marvelous pasta dishes of Emilia-Romagna, which along with Lombardy, produces most of Italy’s grana. Famous grana comes from Lodi, Brescia, Mantua, Piacenza, Alessandria (in Piedmont), and from communities along the Po River, where it is called grana padano. The king of grana is, of course, the one that is made in Parma and Reggio Emilia. Grate the cheese only as you need it and keep it in the refrigerator wrapped tightly in 2 or 3 layers of aluminum foil.