Parmigiano Reggiano PDO has joined the list of sponsors at the World Cheese Awards, taking place as part of the International Cheese Festival in Oviedo, Spain from today to November 6, 2021.
During the event, an online charity auction of a 21-year-old wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano PDO – one of the oldest edible cheeses in the world – will be held. The auction will be open to anyone who would like to place a bid, as it will be hosted through the fundraising platform, Givergy, until 6th November. The cheese wheel will be on display at the International Cheese Festival and at the World Cheese Awards, and representatives from the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO Consortium will also be present throughout, where a sampling stand will be set up for attendees to learn more about the typical Italian cheese.
THE AGING PROCESS OF PARMIGIANO REGGIANO PDO
This wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano PDO is one of the first of its kind, as the minimum maturation period of a “King of Cheeses” wheel is 12 months, after which every individual wheel is quality-checked by a member of the Protection Consortium. However, no maximum age has ever been set, with 24, 36, 40, and even 48-month Parmigiano Reggiano PDO widely available for purchase. As every age acquires unexpected and unparalleled aromas and flavors, a 21-year-old wheel of cheese is expected to be amber straw yellow with an intense toasted smell. The aromatic analysis should highlight typical leather, underwood, truffle, and smoky notes. The cheese will probably have a special structure: dry, very crumbly, and soluble. It is an exclusive gift and a pleasant food to be tasted with structured and meditation wines.
The cheese wheel was produced in April 2000 by the Latteria di Tabiano dairy when it was under the leadership of the late Erio Bertani. It was one of the first wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano PDO to be awarded the prestigious “Quality of the Mountain” status by the Conva Consortium, which is responsible for the safeguarding and promotion of products from the Apennines. The wheel was then purchased by Erio Bertani himself, who kept it in his warehouse until 2018. His wife, Susetta Sforacchi, children, and the Nazionale Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmigiano Reggiano National Team) decided then to donate it to charity in his memory.
CHARITY PROJECTS
All proceeds from the auction will be donated to two solidarity projects that are close to the heart of the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO Consortium: Aiutiamo il mondo di Padre Marco Canovi (“Let’s help the world”, by Father Marco Canovi”), and Mama Sofia, founded by Zakaria Seddiki wife of the late ambassador to Congo, Luca Attanasio. The latter initiative is directly supported by La Forma Del Cuore (“The shape of the heart”).
Proceeds from the auction donated to Father Canovi’s non-profit group will help to build a pediatric medical center in the Apeitolim, which is already underway with construction to be completed by 2022. The money from the auction will be an invaluable method for the medical center to train and recruit staff and to purchase medical equipment.
La Forma Del Cuore is a project created by the Nazionale del Parmigiano Reggiano, an association of dairies that promote the cheese in Italy and abroad alongside the Consortium. The project has been associated with various humanitarian missions in Central Africa, including the non-profit organization Mama Sofia, which is run by Zakaria Seddiki, the wife of Luca Attanasio, who served as the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2017 until his brutal murder there in February 2021. Proceeds from the auction donated to La Forma del Cuore will support the Mama Sofia Medical Center – the first of its kind in Boma.