How would you like to be in a temperature-controlled room,
surrounded by $190 million worth of grana padano cheese? It was
the final stop in a visit I made recently to Caseificio Santa
Vittoria near the town of Carpaneto, in the region of Emilia
Romagna, where most of my Italian relatives live. Before we get
to that final stop however, I'll take you through the steps used
in making this glorious cheese. Every day at this caseificio,
about 116 thousand pounds of milk are collected and placed in
large stainless steel tanks, where most of the cream is
separated out and made into butter. The partially skimmed milk
is placed in large copper pots, where natural whey, derived from
the previous day's cheese-making process, is added. This natural
culture of lactic bacteria augments the acidity, helping to
solidify the milk into cheese. The milk is then heated to about
87 degrees fahrenheit, and rennet, derived from cows' stomachs,
is added for coagulation. The milk starts to become more
gelatinous and curds are broken