Our Parmigiano Reggiano Zaboform cheese is 30 months' old, not the usual 24 months. We believe this additional ageing gives an extra dimension of flavour.
The Bilzi Family behind the Zabo Brand are cheese maturers (this division between producing and affinage is common throughout Europe). Although they started as cheesemakers, they now concentrate on the careful ageing over years of the cheeses. Every week they visit the farms in the high pastures, selecting the best cheeses for maturing, working only with particular producers who share their artisan approach.
Although putting a great cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano into a vacuum pack seems a sin, it is by far and away the best method of keeping the cheese fresh for weeks in the fridge. Otherwise it becomes oily and waxy, which makes it difficult to grate. This is exactly how Italians buy it.
The key is not to remove the vacuum pack, but to open the nose use/grate what you need and seal with foil.
In England we tend to use Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan) for grating over pasta, but a 30-month-old cheese is wonderful eating in nuggets at the end of the meal with a glass of Vin Santo.
*A whole Parmiggiano Reggiano weighs approximately 40kg. Smaller weights are a cut of a whole cheese.
