Grana
Italian for grain: the family of hard, granular, long-aged cheeses that includes Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano.
Also: formaggio grana, grana cheese
Grana means grain, and refers to the grainy, flaky texture of a family of hard northern Italian cheeses made from partly skimmed cow milk. The curd is broken to rice-grain size with a spino, cooked to about fifty-five degrees, formed into huge drum-shaped wheels of around forty kilograms, brined for weeks and aged for one to three years or more. The best known are Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano, both protected, with Trentingrana from Trentino. Grana cheeses break into craggy pieces rather than slicing, and are cut with short almond-shaped knives. Long ageing develops tyrosine crystals and deep savoury flavour, which makes them the great grating cheeses of Italian cooking.