Why can older Parmigiano Reggiano turn crumblier and grainier instead of simply becoming a harder block?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: Proteins get cut up
Fat makes it richer — Not quite: fat affects mouthfeel, so this is a tempting guess. But the age shift is not mainly a richer-fat story: official tasting material describes older wheels through crumbliness and granularity. The useful surprise is structural: aging can make the cheese break differently without making it butterier.
Proteins get cut up ✓ — Right: aging breaks the protein structure into smaller pieces. Proteolysis changes the cheese matrix, and both official tasting material and independent tasting coverage describe older pieces as crumblier and grainier. The counterintuitive result is that aging does not merely harden the cheese; it changes how the interior fractures.
Salt makes it firm — Plausible, but incomplete: salt can make foods feel firmer or more intense, yet it does not explain why older Parmigiano has a different internal texture. Official and independent tasting notes point to crumbliness and graininess increasing with age. The better cause is slow structural change, not just salt making it firm.
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