Grana Padano
The main ingredien
is time
Grana Padano is a semi-fat hard cheese which is aged slowly. It’s a PDO kind of cheese whose production is regulated by a set of guidelines explained in the product specification registered under Commission Regulation in Brussels: the PDO certification defines a limited territory of origin and states that only the milk produced within that territory and by farms certified by PDO control bodies, can be transformed into Grana Padano.
The product specification also regulates the feeding of the cows, the quality of the milk and all the processing procedures in a quite clear and definite way, while the production conforms to the hygiene and health regulations that safeguard the consumer’s health.
The main ingredient, however, is time. In fact, a cheese cannot be called Grana Padano if it hasn’t aged for at least 9 months.
The PDO control bodies are the Consortium for the protection of Grana Padano PDO and CSQA, the PDO certification authority. Together they guarantee that the product is genuine, environment friendly and compliant with the product specification.
