il formaggio della Nonna

Tonight I made an easy summer pasta. First I sautèed small chunks of zucchini in a little olive oil and garlic for about 2-3 minutes. Then I poured just enough water to cover the zucchini, boiled them for 10 minutes, after which I added pasta to cook with the zucchini. When the water boiled down, the result was a zucchini pasta combination that was thick and delicious and almost creamy. It was at this point that I grated the Parmigiano Reggiano.

While I cook many things to honor my Italian heritage, I have also incorporated traditions--such as an early morning cappuccino, an afternoon espresso, or homemade limoncello that I serve in small frosted glasses. But perhaps the one tradition that instantly transports me back to Nonna's kitchen is the ritual of grating the Parmigiano Reggiano.

When I was a little girl, I knew that it was almost time to eat when my Nonna reached into the refrigerator to pull out a block of Parmigiano Reggiano. She would unwrap the cheese and spread the wax paper wrapping on the kitchen table. Then, using a large grater, Nonna grated the cheese. When there was a huge, snowy mound, she used the wax paper as a funnel to deposit the grated cheese into a lidded cheese server. 

As the parmigiano was being grated, my sister and I always begged for a piece. It was especially important that Nonna grate the cheese because, unlike our mother or our aunts who gave us a tiny sliver, Nonna cut off a HUGE chunk. One for each of us. The funny thing was she pretended to be sneaky about it by handing it to us on the sly, so we whispered and believed we were pulling a fast one on everyone.

We weren't. Everyone knew what Nonna was doing.  

It was not until we were older that we even knew the name Parmigianno Reggiano; we always referred to it as il formaggio della Nonna, or Nonna's cheese. I still think of it that way.

So tonight, while the pasta finished cooking, I grated the Parmigiano Reggiano using the same ritual I witnessed so many years ago.

I unwrapped the Parmiggiano, spread the wax paper on the kitchen counter, grated the cheese, and used the wax paper as a funnel to deposit the cheese into a lidded cheese server. I used a silver server that was a wedding present for my parents over 50 years ago. 

And when Timothy asked, I cut off a huge Nonna-sized chunk for him to eat.