Customer Reviews

Grana Padano Stravecchio Oro del Tempo - Pound Cut (1 pound) by igourmet.com

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For those who have not had this excellent cheese, it may be helpful to compare Stravecchio Oro del Tempo, Grana Padano, which is relatively obscure outside of Italy, with cheeses that English-speakers may have had the good fortune to try. It is a hard aged cheese, in my opinion more like Regiano Parmesan than anything made in North America. It has sort of crystalline fracture lines in it, and is quite tangy, which makes it offset fruit nicely, but as it is hard as well as tangy, it does beautifully in place of more ordinary grating cheeses such as Romano or Parmesan. Some very old cheddars are a little bit like that, but North American cheddars are never this hard and grainy. It has bursting hard crystals of lactic acid and milk sugars.

I still have warm memories of Grana, pears, and Grappa, my favorite after-dinner treat when I lived in Italy. Grana is like a crumbly cheddar, but milder and more distinctive. If you are wild about pears, Grana is the perfect accompaniment, but it's luscious with apples and grapes, too.
Grana is not easy to find here, so I was thrilled to find it at Amazon partner iGourmet!
Give it a try!

This is a wonderful example of grana padano. The taste is piquant, with nutty overtones. Maybe the best example we have had to date.