With just three ingredients—raw cow’s milk, salt and calf rennet—Parmigiano-Reggiano, the so-called “King of Cheeses,” was born nearly a millennium ago. Parmigiano-Reggiano is a strictly controlled product, not to be confused with other, non-European Union cheeses labeled “Parmesan.” It has intense aromas and flavors of fruit, nuts, butter and hay, and its high glutamate content produces a savory, flavor-enhancing quality. Parmigiano-Reggiano’s granular texture flakes easily when broken with the stubby, sharp-pointed “almond knife” traditionally used to break and cut the cheese. And those crunchy “cheese crystals” are desirable, a sign of long aging.

“I personally love the texture, the complexity of flavors and the ease of use of Parmigiano-Reggiano,” says Ihsan Gurdal, owner of Formaggio Kitchen, a 39-year-old cheese shop with two locations in the Boston area and another in New York City. “I think being made in the same way for the last nine centuries, its richness and nutritional profile and the large wheel size easily qualify it as the ‘King of Cheeses.’ ”