Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese Factory Visit

Only 500 registered factories are allowed to produce the authentic Parmigiano cheese. The Parmigiano must be authorised by the DOP of Europe to be sold as authentic Parmigiano cheese.


The process:
The factory we visited in Parma, make 10 wheels a day.
A gastronomic day of visiting a real cheese factory in the Italian town of Parma. The making of Parmigiano cheese.

This factory had 5 vats.
Each vat produce 2 round wheel.
1 Wheel weighs approx 50kg.
Take about 3 hours for the entire process.
Then it take up to 24 months for the cheese to mature.
Salting followed by resting.
Incredible process.
The longer the cheese rests, the more mature and strong the taste will be.
The cheese is rested for 12, 24, or 36 months.

Madeleines

Soft "tea cake" type biscuit.
A favourite French delight.

HINTS
Melted butter must be warm when added to mixture.

Refrigerate the batter mix for 2 hours. You can refrigerate it for up to 3 days. This will give the Madeleines its traditional hump.


Grease the moulds with melted butter, then dust flour on the tray. Refrigerate the trays for 10minutes for the butter to harden. This will allow the cooked Madeleines to fall out of the tray when cooked.

Follow this link for a video demo. This is the best way to explain and see the above hints.
http://www.joyofbaking.com/madeleines.html


Ingredients

• Eggs                        3
• Caster Sugar            175g
• Plain Flour (Sifted)  125g
• Baking Powder        1 Tsp
• Unsalted Butter        115g (melted and warm)
• Grated Lemon or Orange

Preheat oven at 175 Degrees. Then turn it down to 140-150 when ready to  bake.

Combine the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. (use a paddle on slow mix master)(I do it by hand with a whisk)
Add sifted flour into the mix and combine.
Add melted butter and lemon zest.
Once combined, leave to rest in the fridge. (the longer the better).
Bake for 8 - 12min. Golden and fluffy.
Cool for 10 min.
Sprinkle with Icing Sugar.


Soft and fluffy, nice when dipped in hot espresso coffee.