The Cheesiest Blog Around
Cacio e Pepe is the essence of Italy—it’s pasta, it’s parm. And it is simple and stunning.
Our Executive Chef, David Elkins, has worked in some of the most prestigious kitchens in the world, and he’s sharing his personal recipe for the dish. Check it out:
Quick, easy, insanely satisfying, and 100% authentic Italian cuisine. We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.
Editor’s note: A few years ago, some of our team took a cheese tour of Italy. One of our team members, Andrew Perlgut, wrote about the experience, and we are re-publishing his post from September, 2015.
My journey to the Italian countryside, somewhere between Reggio Emilia and Parma, began 4 years ago—before any of the aging, gorgeous wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano had begun their life as milk, before the cows had eaten the lush grasses growing nearby, before Riccio and his team heated the milk, added the rennet and salt, cut the curds, formed the wheels, and then brined them. My journey began before all of that, in a dimly lit conference room upstairs at Murray’s HQ, with a dozen of my coworkers.
On that afternoon four years ago, as we filed into the room, over thirty different plates of Parmigiano-Reggiano were arrayed across the room. We were given simple instructions: pick the best one.
Parmigiano-Reggiano, the King of Cheese, is PDO, or protected designation of origin. That means that, to make it, you must follow a strictly codified recipe and live within a very specific geographic area.
With aged cheeses, the goal is to get as much moisture out of the curds as possible, so that there is no spoilage during the aging process. Removing moisture is a multistep process, involving salting, heating, and cutting the curds. The salt works through osmosis, pulling liquid out of the curds while introducing sodium back into them. The heat causes evaporation. Cutting the curds smaller and smaller removes any pockets in which moisture might hide in.
Parmigiano-Reggiano starts by combining skimmed milk from the previous evening with whole milk from the morning’s milking. From there, the new, partially-skimmed milk gets pumped into giant copper vats. The vats are heated, rennet is added, and the milk begins to separate into curds and whey. The curds are then cut, the vat is heated again, and the curds are hooped together. No cheesemaker who produces PDO Parmigiano-Reggiano can deviate from this process in the slightest, which is what guarantees that remarkable consistency you notice from one piece of Parmigiano-Reggiano to the next.
So, if all parm should taste the same, why did we go through that tasting exercise 4 years ago? Because, while the PDO helps to guarantee that the cheese you are getting conforms to certain requirements, there are other factors at play in the cheesemaking process: the specific feed of the cows, minuscule variations in temperature and time between cheesemakers, the length and conditions of the aging process, where the cows happen to be in the reproductive cycle, etc. All of these pieces, when put together, can lead to noticeable differences. So we tasted through the 30 different options, and we narrowed them down.
And then a few months later we did it again.
By repeating the tasting, we got to try wheels from different parts of the year and with slightly different ages. We tasted wheels that tended toward the nuttier side, we tasted wheels that were overwhelmingly fruity, and, if my tasting notes are to be believed, we tasted wheels that had a distinctly broccoli-ish flavor.
Each subsequent tasting helped narrow down the options until we ultimately determined a favorite. It had the perfect balance of nutty and fruity, salty and sweet, savory and umami. Then we reached out to the farm that produced it, locked in their entire production, and officially had what you now know as Murray’s Parmigiano-Reggiano.
For a cheesemonger, the first time you crack open a wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano is always a memorable experience. I remember my first perfectly. I was helping to train some new cheesemongers in Cincinnati and was told to show them how to crack open parm. No problem! The most beautiful thing about cracking a wheel of parm is this: milk, at most 16 hours old, goes through the cheesemaking process, and once that wheel is put into its mold, the milk on the inside begins a two-year residency on a shelf. When a cheesemonger cracks a wheel, that milk is seeing the light of day for the first time in over 730 days.
Four years on, I finally got to walk into the making room where our Parm is crafted. I’ve cracked many wheels of Parm, but this was going to be my first time seeing that milk in liquid form.
The first room we walked into, the cheesemaking room, was hot and humid and bustling with activity. We walked through it and into the refrigerated milk room, where the milk comes in each evening to sit and await the next morning’s milk.
Back into the humidity and heat, and we got to meet Riccio and watch him and his team make Parmigiano-Reggiano. The walked us through the whole process as they went, from heating up the milk and adding the rennet to cutting, gathering, and pressing the curds.
After settling into their final shapes, the wheels take a 20-day bath in a salt brine to help further reduce internal moisture and bring the saltiness of the cheese up to the levels that we know and love.
And then, they wait. For two whole years. We can call this their growing up phase, when they are reaching a point of being mature enough to assume the throne as the King of Cheese.
With Easter only about a week away, we’re starting to seriously think about our dining plans. If we’re being honest, the idea of another boring baked ham is filling us with a certain amount of dread. It’s not that we don’t love ham – working in the specialty food industry, we’ve had plenty of seriously delicious ones. And then it hit us: This Easter doesn’t have to be the traditional honey glazed version you’ve had pretty much every year. Why not put a Murray’s twist on a holiday classic? Here are some delicious alternatives that will leave your family and friends reconsidering those old traditions.
This is the closest we’re going to get to classic ham, but it is so much better. That’s because Olympia Provisions has perfected the art of butchery, curing, cooking, and smoking – and all of that skill went into the creation of the Sweetheart Ham. This delectable pork sirloin is brined for ten days with juniper berries, floral herbs, crushed garlic, and fresh onions, which leaves this beautiful rosy ham salty yet herbaceous. Sweetheart is then smoked over fragrant applewood for ten hours, sealing in the moisture and imparting a gentle sweetness. Seriously, we’ve never had a classic home-style ham as moist and decadent as this lovely little round.
Prosciutto di Parma is considered the King of Hams over in Italy, and we believe the title is well deserved. The Italians have been making Prosciutto di Parma since the Roman Empire was ruling over the known world and is considered a time-honored tradition from Parma, Italy. Over time, Prosciutto di Parma’s rich, gamey flavors have become well-known throughout Italy, and the world. The process is fairly simple – all it needs is sea salt, which it is cured in, air and time. The longer it is aged, the more concentrated and flavorful the meat becomes. When thinly sliced, Prosciutto is a velvety, nutty ham that’s unlike anything you can find in the States. Traditionally, it’s served with Parmigiano Reggiano, as it’s from the same area – if you’re thinking of giving it a pairing, we highly recommend putting the two together.
Maybe it’s time to bring the heat back to Easter. It’s pretty easy to do – you just have to incorporate Chorizo Iberico into your holiday plans. A classic, spicy dried sausage native to Spain, Chorizo is traditionally flavored with peppery smoked paprika. This chorizo is made with Iberico pork – a pig that forages through the forests of the Iberian Peninsula, feeding on a diet of acorns, roots, and wild herbs. All that flavor from what they’ve been munching on comes through in the meat, which develops into a natural nuttiness that makes Iberico ham highly coveted. We suggest mixing things up when it comes to pairings, since the heat and smokiness balances out those nutty flavors when given a little bit of Manchego and crusty rustic bread. If anything, it’ll definitely spice up your holiday meal.
You’re probably thinking, “Bacon? But I can have bacon any day!” Which is true. But instead of Easter dinner, let’s talk Easter brunch. Not only are you going to need some bacon to pile onto plates, but what about added to frittatas, omelettes, and even scones! If we’re looking for a top notch bacon to serve to family and friends, we’re reaching for Nueske’s Wild Cherrywood Smoked Bacon. It’s been made the same way since 1882 – spice mixtures are ground by hand, the bacon is smoked for 24 hours over wild cherrywood logs, and the simplicity is just magical.
If you’ve given something up for Lent, or if you’re still keeping up with your New Years Resolutions (if that’s the case, you’re amazing and you should teach us your ways), you might be struggling to get your fix. We feel you – junk food purged from the pantry, there’s nothing we want more than a handful of potato chips. But we have a cheesy option for you that you might just love.
Fricos. It’s not an off-brand corn chip. Actually, it’s a simple recipe that you can make yourself, as a cheesy alternative to the snack food you crave. For this recipe, you’re going to need some parm. We’re not talking about the powdery stuff that you sprinkle over pizza though. We suggest buying a nice chunk of Murray’s Parmigiano Reggiano – the king of cheese. Murray’s chooses 24 month wheels straight from Parma, Italy, made of raw, partially skimmed cows milk. The result is a distinctive buttery aroma that hints at the barrage of nutty sweetness and spice followed by a salt-caramel finish.
Sounds better than a bag of Lays, right? You can find our recipe for Fricos below, and indulge guilty free!
Ingredients
Instructions
PS – Want a little extra kick? You can add spices to the grated cheese mix. We like adding a bit of curry powder!
Quick editor’s note: our team came back from Italy full of inspiration. This is the first in a series about our experiences and insights on our Italian adventures, findings, cheese and more. Take it away, Andrew!
My journey to the Italian countryside, somewhere between Reggio Emilia and Parma, began 4 years ago. Before any of the aging, gorgeous wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano had begun their life as milk, before the cows had eaten the lush grasses growing nearby, before Riccio and his team heated the milk, added the rennet and salt, cut the curds, formed the wheels and then brined them. My journey began before all of that, in a dimly lit conference room upstairs at Murray’s HQ, with a dozen of my coworkers.
On that afternoon four years ago, as we filed into the room, over thirty different plates of Parmigiano Reggiano were arrayed across the room and we were given simple instructions: pick the best one.
———————————————————————————————————
Parmigiano Reggiano, the King of Cheese, is PDO, or protected designation of origin. That means that any Italian cheese maker who makes it, must follow the same recipe and they must live within a very specific geographic area.
With aged cheeses, the goal is to get as much moisture out of the curds as possible so that the aging process goes smoothly and without spoiling. There are multiple different ways to remove moisture from curds: salt, heat, and cutting the curds. The salt works through osmosis, pulling liquid out of the curds while adding salt back into them. The heat causes evaporation. Cutting the curds smaller and smaller removes any pockets that moisture could hide in. In making Parmigiano Reggiano, they do all three.
It starts with combining skimmed milk from the previous evening with whole milk from the morning milking. From there, the new partially-skimmed milk gets pumped into giant copper vats where it is heated, rennet is added, the milk becomes curds and whey, the curds are cut, the vat is heated, and then the curds are hooped together. No cheese maker who makes PDO Parmigiano Reggiano can do this differently and that’s what guarantees consistency when you buy Parmigiano Reggiano at your local market.
———————————————————————————————————-
Why go through this exercise 4 years ago? Shouldn’t they all taste the same? Yes and no. The PDO helps to guarantee that the cheese you are getting conforms to certain requirements, but there are other factors at play in cheese making. The specific feed of the cows, minuscule variations in temperature and time between cheese makers and in the aging process, and where the cows are in their reproductive cycle . All of these pieces, when put together, can lead to dramatic differences. So we tasted through the 30 different options, and we narrowed it down.
And then a few months later, we did it again.
By repeating the tasting, we got to try wheels from different parts of the year and slightly different ages. We tasted wheels that tended towards the nuttier side, we tasted wheels that were overwhelmingly fruity, we tasted wheels that had a distinctly “broccoli-ish” flavor, if my tasting notes are to be believed.
Each subsequent tasting helped us to narrow it down and finally we honed in on a favorite. A perfect balance of nutty and fruity, salty and sweet, savory and umami. Then we reached out to the farm, we locked in the entire production, and we had Murray’s Parmigiano Reggiano.
For a cheesemonger, the first time you crack open a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano is always a memorable experience. I remember my first perfectly. I was helping to train some new cheesemongers in Cincinnati and was told to show them how to crack open Parm. No problem! But the beautiful thing about cracking a wheel of Parm happens every single time one gets opened up. Milk, at most 14-16 hours old goes through the cheese making process, and once that wheel is put into its mold, the milk on the inside begins a two-year long journey. When a cheesemonger cracks a wheel, that milk is seeing the light of day for the first time in over 730 days. It is a beautiful and delicious moment and one that you can experience at Murray’s stores around the country this Saturday, October 3rd.
———————————————————————————————————
And finally, we’re walking in to the cheese making room where our Parm is made. I’ve cracked many wheels of Parm, but this was going to be my first time seeing that milk in liquid form.
The first room we walked into, the cheese making room, was hot and humid and bustling with activity. We walked through and into the refrigerated milk room, where the milk comes in each evening to sit and await the morning milk the next day. All of the activity and heat of the make room are left behind as the milk quietly and peacefully enjoys the views.
Back into the humidity and heat, and we got to meet Riccio and watch him and his team make Parmigiano Reggiano.
From heating up the milk, to adding the rennet, to cutting the curds, to gathering the curds, to putting the curds into the forms and then pressing them, Riccio walked us through the whole process as he and his crew worked.
After settling into their final shape, the wheels take a 20-day bath in a salt brine to help further reduce internal moisture and bring the saltiness of the cheese up to the levels that we know and love.
And then, they wait. And 2 years later, you get shelves and shelves full of the King of Cheese with our dynamic cheese maker!
