Parmesan cheese
Parmesan cheese - known in Italy as Parmigiano Reggiano - is a hard, crumbly cheese that has a fairly intense and powerful flavour. Parmigiano Reggiano comes from the region of Parma. Only the cheeses that come from the provinces of Modena, Parma and Reggio Emilie may bear the name 'Parmesan'. This delicacy is often used to grate dishes, to add thin slices to a salad or to sprinkle on a tasty spaghetti bolognaise. In this recipe, we take a completely different approach. We're going to smoke the Parmesan cheese!
Preparation of smoked Parmesan cheese
There are two ways of smoking: hot and cold. In this recipe, we opt for cold smoking. As this is done at a temperature between 20 and 25 °C, the cheese won’t start to melt. Since the temperature must remain low, it’s best not to prepare this recipe during the hot summer months. Smoking Parmesan cheese will result in a delicious taste bomb with a smoky touch and it will extend the shelf life of your cheese.
To prepare the smoked Parmesan cheese, we use the Oskar smoker. We use beech smoking dust as flavouring. First of all, fill the cold smoke generator completely with the smoking dust and place it in the Oskar smoker. Place a tea light at the end of the generator's coil and light it. As soon as the smoking dust begins to smoulder, remove the tea light and place the Parmesan cheese on the grid in the smoker. Now close everything and leave for two hours.That's it! You can now crumble the smoked Parmesan cheese and mix it through a Caesar salad, serve it in pieces during the aperitif or grate it through a warm pasta. Enjoy!
