Interesting note about Parmigiano:
Many
authentic Parmigiano cheeses have been produced in the same buildings for hundreds of years. No
bacterial culture is added to some of these cheeses because colonies of the necessary bacteria naturally grow in the basements where the cheeses are aged. It is thought this is how the cheese was first
discovered, and why it is a
regional favorite.
Also the cows which produce the milk used to make the
cheese are on very restrictive
diets, they are only permitted to graze on certain fields a
cow that strays from one of these fields for too long (basically long enough to assume that the cow has eaten) they are removed from
milk production.