The history of Grana Padano begins in 1135, in a monastic abbey on the outskirts of Milan. Reggio Emilia Parmesan currently holds the world record for the longest maturing cheese.
by Marco Muggiano
History tells us that the grana cheese of the Po Valley was born around 1135 within the walls of the Abbey of Chiaravalle, now in the South Milan Agricultural Park. This place immediately became a point of reference for the monastic experience based on the spirit of ora et labora (pray and work), whose example of sobriety, simplicity of life, respect for the environment, and work improvement is still valid today. The abbey, a splendid example of Romanesque architecture, was built in an uncultivated and swampy area where numerous villages were incorporated into the monastery's property. To promote the development of agriculture and livestock, and thus increase the production of high-quality food, a massive reclamation of the land of the Po plain was necessary. As a result of this enormous work, there was a large supply of milk that far exceeded the needs of the religious community and the surrounding population. The monks and the population considered it a sin to waste one of the most nutritious and available foods in the medieval diet. Consequently, a long-term preservation method became necessary.
In special boilers inside the monastery, the forerunner of a modern dairy farm, the monks devised a process for making a hard cheese that would improve with time through aging: they called it caseus vetus, old cheese. The people who did not know Latin gave it another name derived from the compact but grainy appearance of the cheese. This is how the name "grana cheese" was born. The most mentioned Granas are the Lodigiano, considered by many to be the oldest, the Milanese, the Parmesan, the Piacenza, and the Mantuan.
The modern breakthrough dates back to 1951. In Stresa, in June of the same year, European technicians and dairy operators signed an agreement establishing precise rules for the naming of the cheeses and the indication of their characteristics. The "Grana Lodigiano" cheese, which later became Grana Padano, and the Parmigiano-Reggiano became distinguished products on that occasion. Now they are competing for the world market and, above all, for the pasta dishes to be grated on.