grana padano

Grana Padano Cheese

Grana Padano is the most widely produced DOP product in the world. The beginnings of the production of Grana Padano cheese can be traced back to the year 1135 at the abbey of Chiaravalle, the most important of the Cistercians, who followed the teachings of Saint Benedict. These monks prayed and worked across the plains of the Po River, reclaiming swamps to make it suitable for raising animals for dairy products.

Milk was a precious commodity at the time, but spoiled quickly and went to waste. Fresh cheeses didn’t last much longer, so their intuition and ingenuity led them to heat it and add rennet to eliminate whey. We can still savor the results of their hard work today in this delicious and versatile cheese. This fantastic product of consistency and character can be conserved for more than two years after it is made. For this reason it was referred to as the caseus vetus, or “old cheese”, and then simply as grana.

The cheese eventually became known beyond monastery walls, and local farmers named it after its province of origin. It is now in a phase of global conquest.