Consorzio Produttori Latte Soc

Yes, it exists. Literally. It's located a few kilometers from the city of Parma in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. A good plan is to get up early so you'll have time to see the entire process required to make the authentic Parmesan cheese, or as they say in Italy, Parmigiano-Reggiano.

The factory is made up of different halls, each with a different function. The most interesting of all is the Sala di Stagionatura where hundreds and hundreds of cheeses and stacked along high corridors to age. It's simply spectacular!

When in Parma, it's mandatory to sample the fine Parmesan cheeses which have been aged for over two years. If you want to know more about the production process, you can visit this co-op and see how it works from start to finish. They mix the milk with rennet and it begins to solidify and gain texture. Then, the master cheese-maker begins to slowly heat the mixture. Finally, it's gathered in cheese-cloths and fitted into wooden molds. The cheese then moves to a hall where they soak it in salt water before setting it out to age, a process which takes a minimum of two years.