Parmesan Cheese

starlite_2

we have an amazing italian deli on our road..and it's surprisingly cheap. we can get a wedge of parmesan for about 1/4 of the supermarket price..and it's so much nicer..
also big fluffy balls of bufallo mozarella for 60p each, and they make fresh pasta to order too..they will even stuff ravioli with your own ingredients if you want..i get them to make canneloni sheets for me, as pasta is one thing I am not brave enough to make myself.

thanks for the tip about keping it fresh, i'll have to show this thread to oh as he is convinced he can just chuck the parmesan , unwrapped, into the fridge and do it no harm..teheee

competitionscafe

starlite wrote:

i'll have to show this thread to oh as he is convinced he can just chuck the parmesan , unwrapped, into the fridge and do it no harm..teheee

Oooh no - it will go all dry and horrible and will also absorb odours from other things in the fridge - yeeurch.

By the way what's the name of the italian deli and where is it - I will pass it on to my sisters best friend who lives in London and appreciates good food (she is a qualified (and very talented) chef, but works as a hotel manager at the moment so only cooks at home). I have tried to persuade her to take a weekend break in Edinburgh - free accommodation if she cooks, but no luck so far (although to be fair she virtually never gets weekends off).

Caterina

Quasar wrote:

Take an Italian's advice.....

Quasar, che bellezza! Un altro/a Italiano/a su questo sito! Parliamoci!

To all the others, please ignore the above and take this tip:

Authentic Parmigiano Reggiano can be found fresh and vacuum packed in packs of appx. 200g, in Lidl, for £10 per Kg! It is the real McCoy!

Incidentally, as my two teenagers eat parmesan (biting it off in chunks!) as if it was cheap cooking cheese, I resort regularly to buying the ready grated stuff. Most of that stuff is absolutely horrendous but I have found that the Sainsbury's own brand is not as bad as the others and will satisfy their lust for the stuff on pasta. Not ideal but economical.

I have recently seen Pecorino cheese (both the sardinian and the roman variety) being sold in Lidl, that is also very good to grate, especially on pasta dishes such as Amatriciana or aglio & olio, or cacio e pepe (recipes will follow another time!).

Ciao all

Caterina

Anne_Marie_2

Thank goodness for this post. Grated parmesan in tubs is so disgusting, can't believe that anyone likes it - unless anyone with a sweaty foot/sock fetish!
I always buy pieces of Parmigiano Reggiano or sometimes Pecorino, all depends on what I can get my hands on. (Many thanks to Caterina a long time ago for recommending Lidl and explaining difference between the cheeses).
Must admit that it's really only me that uses the cheese in my household, the others preferring grated cheddar over pasta - tried to get them to try it, but know that they have tasted the sweaty sock variety, so can't really blame them.
I freeze the cheese in clingfilm, then tinfoil, and then in freezer bag - take out of the freezer, grate what I need, usually just as the pasta is cooking, then stick back in the freezer. By the time food is served, cheese is defrosted, and really not much time for cheese to suffer much.............unless you lovely Italian people tell me different!

And still not given up my addiction for truffle oil Caterina, in fact am getting worse - it is sooooooooooooo good. Especially since I found out that I can now get it at Harvey Nichs in Edinburgh - gives me another excuse to go there - Edinburgh I mean, not the shop!

Quasar

Caterina wrote:

Quasar, che bellezza! Un altro/a Italiano/a su questo sito! Parliamoci!

Ciao all

Caterina

Ti mando un messaggio!!!!!
Q

Sorry folks, what we are saying is innocent and does not refer to the site!

Addy

Caterina wrote:

aglio & olio

Do you really want to cause a garlic shortage? :rotfl:

This dish (and the same with chillis) is my favourite meal in the whole wide world...bar none!!

When my Italian OH first made it for me I thought I'd died and gone to heaven

I DO put parmesan on it, but this horrifies the Italian side of the family

Curry_Queen

Addy wrote:

Do you really want to cause a garlic shortage? :rotfl:

This dish (and the same with chillis) is my favourite meal in the whole wide world...bar none!!

When my Italian OH first made it for me I thought I'd died and gone to heaven

I DO put parmesan on it, but this horrifies the Italian side of the family

This is also one of my favourite comfort food dishes, or at least a similar version of it, as I prefer to use linguine instead of spaghetti and also fry off some pancetta with the garlic :drool: ... and YES, I also smother it in parmesan :dance:

Addy

Great isn't it? needs to be a comfort food as well - cause I don't have many friends the next day....don't have many friends any day come to think of it :rotfl:

Try it with a pinch of dried chilli (not the powder - the little dried bits) or a chopped up fresh chilli, I also put basil in it after cooking the garlic and chilli as opposed to parsley but that's also frowned on :rolleyes:

It's tasting even better with the free parmesan curtesy of Mr T's overcharging

Curry_Queen

Before I dare click on that website, can you confirm whether it has an online shop please?

Last time I clicked on a link posted by competitionscafe it cost me money!!! :eek: :rotfl:

competitionscafe

Don't click!! <online shop alert> <online shop alert> <online shop alert> Don't click!!

(At least I am fairly sure they have an online shop as the site has 'add to basket buttons' - obviously I go there in person as it's only 20 minutes walk away. Not cheap but I only go about once a month to treat myself and spend about £15/£20 (unless I get some wine) - usually buffalo mozzerella, italian sausages, butter, brioche or bread, pancetta, parmesan, sometimes other cheese or cold meat or their house blend coffee, etc - you could easily go mad in there though! There is a good cafe at the back with nice italian food and not too expensive.

An online deli I have used a few times is Real Eating - very nice selection they have too - so:
Don't click!! <online shop alert> <online shop alert> <online shop alert> Don't click!! http://www.real-eating.co.uk/home.htm
Limoncello in Cambridge is good too.
http://www.limoncello.co.uk/findus.html

end // Don't click!! <online shop alert> <online shop alert> <online shop alert> Don't click!! end//