In the middle of 19th century, the most famous personality in the production of Parmigiano Reggiano in the area of Parma was Mr. Guido Maghenzani, a charismatic man with a strong commercial attitude and a tough character. He owned several cheese factories in the town of San Secondo, in the province of Parma, which he then bequeathed his four daughters. One of them, Attilia Maghenzani, was married to Mr. Ferdinando Guareschi, born in Ragazzola, in the same province of Parma. Ferdinando was a businessman. He was involved in the wholesale trade of food, tuna, oil, and other products. Their marriage gave birth to two sons. The youngest was named Guido after his maternal grandfather, whose sternness and energy he embodied. After studying as a surveyor, Guido started to take care of the business and was in charge of the factory called Lattiero Casearia Maghenzani Attilia e Figli.Taking advantage of the economic boom, Guido bought a farm in the village of Fontanelle di Roccabianca in 1963. The Italian novelist Giovannino Guareschi was born there, in this foggy and sultry land, yet so alive, where the spirits of its inhabitants are as intense as the ground they walk on. The main facility called Palazzo degli Ortalli, later known as Villa Maria, is huge and has several cowsheds and pigsheds. During the years it turns into a proper cheese factory with maturation rooms, new stalls and a mill for the processing of cereals. The supply chain was thus complete: both cereals and grass for livestock started to be produced and processed in-house as well as the milk that was then used for the production of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and cream. The cheese factory and the supply chain
The cheese factory was built in the 1970s and still now preserves its original layout. As in all the cheese factories of the time, we find the rooms for the process of salting in the basement and on the first floor there are the vats where the fatty part of the milk spontaneously rises to the surface. The bell-shaped copper cauldrons are placed under the vats, facing East-West, and behind them a long row of windows facing South provides the dairymen with the right amount of light. The milk comes straight from the cowshed, which is just 200 metres away, in refrigerated tanks. Also the cattle feeding follows the tradition as it is a mixture of corn, barley and soya, processed in the farm’s mill, plus local hay and alfalfa coming from the fields near the farm. The regulation for the production of Parmigiano Reggiano, which includes the entire production process, from the feeding programmes to milk collection and processing, is strictly followed in order to produce a cheese that preserves all its nutritional qualities that made Parmigiano Reggiano a top quality food product.
Production
The cheese factory processes between 25,000 and 26,000 quintals of milk per year, producing between 12 and 14 wheels of cheese per day, depending on the time of year. After 12 months of maturation, each wheel of cheese is tested by some experts belonging to Consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano. Then, the cheese is sold to maturers in bulk. After the tests and before the sale, we personally select some wheels and mark them with “Selezione GG”. The selected wheels will be matured for another 24 or 36 months, then they will be vacuum packed and ready to be served on your table.
For further details on the maturation process, cheese sizes and shapes, and delivery times, get in touch with us at info@agricolaguareschi.it
For those who do not want to miss any of the local specialties, we highly recommend the cured meat made by the farm “Bré del Gallo”, which processes the meat of our pigs, fed with the milk that remains in the boilers after the extraction of the wheels and the cereal flours produced by our farm’s mill.
For more info visit www.bredelgallo.it
