I prefer Kraft parmesan cheese over DOP parmigiano reggiano

I've been thinking about this recently since I've been making a lot of pasta and I actually prefer the taste of Kraft parmesan cheese on a lot of things over the "real" parmigiano reggiano especially when it's used as a topping eg. ceasar salad and pasta. I find that parmigiano reggiano has way too strong of a flavor and it clashes too much when eaten with other things.

30 comments

Posted this in the right place, that's quite an c/unpopularopinion. The only better place to post it would've been c/wrongopinion
- Or /c/italia if the OP wants to start WW3.
Try grana padano. It has a similar taste as Kraft parmesan.
- I don't know on what country/area of the world you are, maybe the two products aren't equally available or have different prices.
  
  Here in Italy, Grana Padano has a slightly lower price than Parmigiano Reggiano, and they are equally available generally in big and small distribution stores.
  
  I like grana much more than parmigiano because it has a more delicate taste. The latter has a higher fat percentage and you feel that "greasy" taste which not everyone likes.
  
  The price difference is due to stricter regulations in the parmigiano specification which should result in a more qualitative product (not only grass feed cattle but also from very specific regions, milk can be collected just once a day, no preservatives are allowed whatsoever, etc.).
Never underestimate the power of monosodic glutamate..
- I checked the ingredient list just to be sure but it definitely doesn't list MSG on it. (Also I think it would be very obvious if it contained MSG as the flavor of MSG is not exactly subtle).
  
  Parmesan cheese contains the highest amount of MSG of any natural (i.e. excluding soy sauce, fish sauce, etc.) food. Tomatoes are next, I think.
  
  It's possible that Kraft has concentrated the natural msg, so it wouldn't show up in the list of ingredients because it wasn't added.
  
  Sometimes MSG it's writed with alternative names, since in some places it got banned as MSG corps have been avoiding it just writing undercover names.
How about fake syrup vs. real maple?
- Fake maple syrup if all you want is sugar. Real if you want more depth. I can see some people not liking real because real syrup is more bitter and bitter isn't a popular flavor.
Do you prefer fake cheddar over real cheddar too? Because I feel like a good mature cheddar has comparable taste strength to parmigiano.
- Honestly depending on the food, yeah. For instance a hamburger where the meat is supposed to be the star of the show, definitely.
I’ve been getting shaved Parmesan and could never go back, but it definitely is a stronger flavor (that’s one of the reasons I like it).

However you could also try other cheeses or form factors.

I recently picked up shaved Asiago for something else, and my kids appreciated the less strong flavor.

“shaved” is a great form factor because of how well it melts, but you could get “shredded” any cheese, or make your own. I used to use shredded mozzarella: great melting and you can’t get more mild than that

Edit: may not be DOP, but is real cheese, no sawdust
- I tried it all. I tried shaved, I tried shredded and I tried grated, and I didn't like any of it. Shredded was probably my favorite because it distributes the Parm a lot more evenly since the pieces are super tiny, but the flavor is still too strong in my opinion.
correct. maybe it's the nostalgia, my ruined american taste buds, the cellulose, but it's delicious. proper cheese is too expensive and you have to get the grater out and grate it then wash the grater and ...
We use both, for different things. I love, love real Parmesan (like will go stand at the display and smell it even if not buying) but there are some good applications for the dry shaky cheese, too.

Cesar salad though? Absolutely not. The shaved Parmesan is better, the shake on cheese is gritty and unpleasant on that.
If you want something real with less strong flavour, try Grana Padano.
- Yeah I can take a look the next time I make pasta.
I don't know what this Kraft thingamabob tastes like, but I recently tried this soy-based parmesan-like topping and well, it certainly tastes different from parmigiano reggiano and it doesn't taste perfect, but I don't either think that parmigiano reggiano tastes perfect, so I'm kind of undecided, taste-wise.

Parmigiano reggiano just has this pungent rennet taste, which means you can only use it in homeopathic doses...
- Parmigiano reggiano just has this pungent rennet taste, which means you can only use it in homeopathic doses.
  
  Half of my plate of pasta is parm or other hard Italian cheese so to each of their own I guess
- you can only use it in homeopathic doses…
  
  Yeah, that is the intended use case for many strongly flavored cheeses: a little goes a long way. There’s still dieting info that recommends feta or extra sharp cheddar or Gorgonzola, for exactly this reason. Even though it tends to have higher fat content, you can get the flavor with a small amount and eat lower fat overall
Mkay
Obviously you can do whatever you want with your own food, but surely if you're finding parmesan too strong then the solution is to just use a bit less parmesan?
- No because then I won't have enough Parm to spread it out. Using kraft Parmesan allows me to spread the Parm evenly so every bit has a good amount of Parm in it. If I only add a tiny amount of Parm then it's very likely I won't taste it much at all.

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