(Continued....) There were a few
things in life Gina Radioli was passionate about and one of them was cheese. I
also have a very good relationship with dairy products and we often enjoyed
them together to the fullest extent of the law. And we do enjoy cheese!
Fantastic cheese is like great sex;
you really don’t know what you’re missing until you’ve had it. Sex is nice, but
cheese is easier. Although the afterglow with cheese is a bit more difficult as
the cuddling can prove to be problematic. And I’ll leave it at that.
Anyway, when Gina heard the
misinformed store clerk tell that poor, innocent cheese novice that there was
no difference between domestic parmesan and Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano, she
really wasn’t as angry as much as she knew it was time to release her inner
cheese advocate. Or better said, she wasn’t angry yet.
Gina knew her enthusiasm with regard
to certain things did not match that of the general public, but sometimes she
just could not hold back. Knowing that her intensity could frighten the
disinterested the way flash photography startles captive animals, she would
always try to be gentle on her first approach. Using a calm, soothing tone, she
tried to explain to the clerk and our soon-to-be new best friend that domestic
parmesan was a poor imitation of its Italian counterpart. She talked about the
Italian standard for the product and how, no matter where you were in Italy,
Parmigiano-Reggiano was a cheese the Italians regarded with a uniform level of
utmost respect.
It all seemed to be going so well
until Gina tried to explain that the salinity of domestic parmesan could be
twice that of Parmigiano-Reggiano and could result in a wonderful dish being
ruined.
“Salinity?” the clerk interrupted,
“you know cheese don’t come from the ocean lady!” he smirked.
Now, Gina could have taken this if
the clerk hadn’t added “you stupid #$%” under his breath. While it’s easy to
forgive ignorance, forgiving becomes more difficult when a man uses a certain
word to a woman that identifies her with a specific body part in the basest
terms in a condescending tone that lets it be known exactly what he thinks of
women in general. At this point, there really is no turning back.
I had fully expected Gina to lunge
at the clerk full throttle until a five-foot-two, blonde-haired, blue-eyed
24-year-old Norwegian angel intervened. Our new best friend, or Katie as we
would find out later, cranked her arm back and slapped the clerk so hard across
the face his glasses catapulted across the deli case.
“You son-of-a-bitch! Who do you
think you are talking to her like that!?! Your filthy mouth just let the whole
world know you were raised in a barn. A rundown shack of a barn.
A rundown, cheese-less shack of a barn!”
Gina glanced over at me, placed her
hand underneath my jaw and gently closed it.
To be continued.......
Here is Parmigiano-Reggiano in one
its purest, unadulterated forms: CRISPS!
Parmigiano-Reggiano Crisps
About 12-16 crisps
These are really fun and super easy.
The key is to use a good quality Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese with good moisture
content. You don't want to make Gina mad.
Ingredients: 1 cup finely grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese
Special equipment: Silpat baking
mats
2 ½ to 3 inch ring molds
Rimmed baking sheets
1. Pre-heat oven to 325°F
2. Line the baking sheet with a
Silpat. Place the ring mold on a corner of the mat
and sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of
the grated cheese into the mold and, using
your finger,spread the grated cheese
evenly over the area inside the ring.
Remove the ring and repeat until you
have 8 rounds.
3. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes,
making sure these do not over bake. Over-baking
any type of parmesan cheese can
leave the crisps with a bitter taste. Allow the
crisps to set for about 20-30
seconds, until they are form enough to remove
from the Silpat with a spatula.
Place the crisps on paper towels
4. Repeat with the remaining cheese.
NOTE! Don’t be tempted to use more
than a tablespoon of cheese for each of these
rounds. If you use too much cheese,
you lose that delicate crunch and the
resulting product is tough and chewy
rather than light and crisp.
No comments:
Post a Comment