From the court of St James (St James of Oliver) to his own TV appearances and cookbooks, Gennaro Contaldo is a living legend. He’s also brand ambassador for Parmigiano Reggiano. Nick grills him.

Deep in the steam filled Italian dairy, famous TV chef, personality and author/ co-author of over fourteen cookbooks, Gennaro Contaldo is turned out in white coat, blue slippers and a fetching hairnet as he takes control of the giant whisk ‘Spino’ used to stir the simmering fresh milk, now coagulating into curds to be separated.

It’s not an easy job, the men working around him are young and tough-looking. They need to be strong because when the cheese is finally lifted out in a large muslin bag it will weigh many kilos. After a few stirs, Gennaro hands the whisk back and gets a cheer from all of us watching.

He clearly loves being hands-on with the process, he’s a true enthusiast for Parmigiano Reggiano and that’s why he’s their brand ambassador. As we wander around sampling Parmesans of various ages, while seeing how they are stored and matured, he couldn’t be happier.

‘I grew up in the small village of Minori on the Amalfi Coast and with this cheese,’ he tells me later, as we drink our expressos after lunch in Parma, the capital of Parmesan PDO production. 

‘When I first came to England many years ago in 1969 as a young man, there was a little Italian deli in Soho, in Dean Street. It was actually called Parmigiano but,’ he laughs, ‘not because of the cheese,  but because the owner was from Parma. Anyway, I went in and straightaway the smell of the Parmesan took me back straight home. So wonderful.’’

I remember my own first Parmesan experience, my mother brought some ground parmesan home in a little box, a gift from an Italian colleague at the factory she worked in. The smell was not encouraging to a 1970s school kid, to be honest. My father took a sniff and flatly refused to even try a taste.

‘Ah yes,’ Gennaro recalls, ‘that ground stuff back then was pretty awful. Not anymore though, if you buy genuine Parmigiano Reggiano ground parmesan it can be very good. It’s made from the rejected Parmesan wheels, rejected not because the cheese is bad but because the wheel has a fissure in it or some other physical damage.’ Of course he prefers to have a whole block or wheel at home.

‘Oh I love a chunk of Parmesan and a nice glass of wine, oh my God! So delicious,’ he enthuses. ‘ You know it can even work with ice cream!  Sweet and sour is incredible. Parmesan is a bit like salt, you use it to season and to balance your dish. Not just to sprinkle or grate it on top. You know some people will go crazy if you say ‘put parmesan on fish’?  But that’s rubbish, use it how you like it. That’s what I say.’

Gennaro is rightly dismissive of the fake Parmesan to be found. ‘There is a lot of fake parmesan around, for sure. People try to imitate it with chemical flavouring. They use bad milk, even powdered milk.’ He is a big fan of the technology used today to ensure people get the product they are paying for.

‘When you buy a block of genuine Parmigiano Reggiano, the rind tells you everything about the cheese with dates and location that can’t be erased or faked as it is imprinted into the rind by the mould the cheese is matured in. Today it can even be scanned electronically. People will always try to fake Parmigiano Reggiano though  because it is a premium cheese with a high price tag. Some fakes may be passable, even bearable, but they will never taste as good as the real Parmigiano Reggiano.’

‘Should we all buy our parmesan in chunks?’ I ask. ‘Well’,he replies ‘I remember when it was hard to find so we’d get a nice big block, cut it in pieces and put them straight in the freezer unwrapped, but that was wrong and it killed the structure, today we have the vacuum packer, a great way to put it in the freezer and keep all its goodness. I cut a piece off enough for a week, put that it in the fridge, then re pack and freeze the remainder for the next time’.

‘You can wrap it in clingfilm or waxed paper for the fridge’ he adds. ‘The main thing Is to get it out of the fridge early before you want to use it, it’s best at room temperature.’

So his family eats a lot of it? ‘Oh we all love it, we eat it every day. Even the rinds! I like to put the rind on the BBQ, just a few seconds each side, delicious! You know with the rind you can make a very good risotto stock, just put the rind in water, simmer it, it’s wonderful full of flavour and you use it as you would any stock.No need to waste a single bit of your cheese.’

He’s keen to offer some other ideas too. ‘Parmigiano Reggiano goes so well when simply shaved onto salad, and you can also make a kind of a pancake of parmesan. Grate it into the frying pan, then fry it both sides and quickly put something on top and roll it up! Amazing! I also roll shaved slices into meat then slow cook the rolls in a tomato sauce.’

And when you make a Milanese, which is a very simple, very nice dish of course, but add add some grated Parmesan to the breadcrumbs and the dish is really elevated.’

The grappa is now going round and the ambassador and I get back to the table for some more nibbles of Parmigiano Reggiano. 

Read all about the types of Parmesan Reggiano and the way it’s made here

Check out some delicious recipes here