Tasting
The art of tasting has become ever-more precise as time has passed, and now there are very detailed methods to describe with precision and consistency the characteristics that distinguish certain cheeses from all others.
One of these distinguished cheeses is Grana Padano.
Grana Padano can be eaten in many different ways and can make a difference.
Whether that be on the dinner table, in your recipes, or when having friends over- it is suitable for all special occasions.
A sensory analysis is a journey to discover the characteristics of a given product by involving the five senses:
- Sigh
- Touch
- Smell
- Taste
- Hearing
Tasting is a ritual that involves all the senses in the enhancement of pleasure.
Tasting a product means analysing it in order to evaluate its organoleptic characteristics.
For tasting to provide results that can be compared with one another, even when performed on different products, in different time frames and by different evaluators, it is necessary to determine the rules for evaluating the individual parameters and the rating scale for the values attributed to each parameter.
The aim of tasting is not just for personal pleasure but also to assess whether the characteristics of the product comply with the production specifications.
Vertical Tasting
The secrets held by Grana Padano PDO at different ageing stages are discovered through vertical tasting.
This involves tasting cheese that is at different stages of the ageing process, produced in the same province or, even better, in the same dairy.
Ideally, the cheese available for tasting should include one product aged for 9 months, one aged for more than 16 months and a Riserva cheese aged for more than 20 months; there should be a gap of at least six months between one ageing stage and another.
The tasting method consists of a sensory analysis divided into five distinct phases.
The visual analysis of Grana Padano PDO focuses on 5 aspects:
– Colour, ranging from white to straw yellow, getting deeper as the ageing progresses
– Calcium crystals, that is, the tiny white spots that feel “gritty” when tasting the cheese
– Tyrosine crystals, that is, round whitish spots with a slightly bitter taste
– The ease with which it breaks into small chunks
– Grainy texture
All these characteristics become more pronounced as the ageing period progresses.
There is no specific vocabulary of descriptive terms for the different smells and each aroma is instead defined by the name of the element that has a given smell.
In Grana Padano aged from 9 to 16 months, the aromas are not very complex and mainly emanate milk and cream.
As the ageing period progresses, the aromas become more complex and, in addition to those mentioned above, there are aromas of dry grass, butter and a hint of beef stock.
The dominant aromas in Grana Padano Reserve are of butter, grass, nuts and beef stock, which become even more complex and harmonious.
Taste analysis of Grana Padano PDO is performed by chewing the cheese slowly so that the flavour molecules become enveloped by saliva and are carried to the taste receptor cells found on the taste buds.
The molecules that provide taste sensations are: lactic acid, minerals, simple and complex amino acids and all water soluble molecules.
The parameters for the taste analysis of cheese are sweetness and savouriness/pungency, which are inversely proportional to each another.
While the taste of Grana Padano PDO aged up to 16 months is dominated by sweetness, in cheese aged for more than 20 months its savouriness/pungency becomes more perceptible.
A fundamentally important aspect of cheese is its texture, as it strongly influences its other organoleptic characteristics.
The term texture in this case refers to numerous parameters:
– Elasticity: the ability to return to the original shape after it has been deformed
– Adhesiveness: the amount of effort required for the tongue to remove the parts of the product that have stuck to the palate or the teeth
– Crumbliness: the capacity to break into small chunks
– Solubility: how quickly it melts in heat
In Grana Padano PDO, the parameters of elasticity and adhesiveness tend to decrease as the ageing period increases; conversely, crumbliness and solubility, which are fairly low in cheese aged up to 16 months, are very high in cheese aged for more than 20 months.
Visual Analysis
Ageing | Up to 16 months | Over 16 months | Over 20 months |
---|---|---|---|
Colour | White | Slightly straw coloured | Straw coloured |
Calcium crystals | Absent | Found under the rind | Found uniformly |
Tyrosine crystals | Absent | Found under the rind | Found uniformly |
Ease of breaking | Low | Medium | High |
Grainy texture | Low | Medium | High |
Olfactory Analysis
Ageing | Up to 16 months | Over 16 months | Over 20 months |
---|---|---|---|
Aromas perceived | Milk, cream | Milk, cream, butter and beef stock | Butter, beef stock, grass and nuts |
Taste Analysis
Ageing | Up to 16 months | Over 16 months | Over 20 months |
---|---|---|---|
Persistence | Short | Medium | Long |
Sweetness | Strong | Medium | Low |
Savouriness / pungency | Low | Medium | Strong |
Texture Analysis
Ageing | Up to 16 months | Over 16 months | Over 20 months |
---|---|---|---|
Elasticity | Strong | Medium | Low |
Adhesiveness | Strong | Medium | Low |
Crumbliness | Low | Medium | High |
Solubility | Low | Medium | High |
Horizontal Tasting
Grana Padano PDO is produced across five Italian regions and 13 provinces, from Veneto to Piedmont and from Emilia Romagna to Trentino. Thus, what makes our cheese different is not only the different ageing period but also the area of production.
Despite the fact that the cheese-making processes and equipment used in the farms and dairies are identical, and that all producers have to comply with a single and strict set of specifications, the area of production of Grana Padano PDO is so extensive that the characteristics which make it a typical product and give it its identity are not so homogeneous or uniform. Hence, the taste and the structure of the cheese are not standardised according to criteria that are the same across all the various provinces.
In order to perform horizontal tasting, the Grana Padano PDO must all be at the same ageing stage but produced by dairies located in different provinces. This method makes it possible to take into account the influence on the final taste of factors such as climate, soil structure, local environment, the dairy cows’ diet and the cattle breeds used for producing the milk. These are unique, specific and key factors that change from region to region and, at times, even from province to province, and which strongly and distinctively influence the unique qualities of the Grana Padano PDO.
Discover also:
Ingredients
True excellence requires few ingredients. Rennet, lysozyme, salt and the highest quality milk combine to create something magical.
Ageing
The differing flavours of Grana Padano come from the ageing process. Different time periods, different ways to experience the wait.