Take a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano, a whole wheel. Everything you might want to know about its provenance, its history, is already there, stamped on its rind.
The fascera has stamped on the wheel the characteristic Parmigiano Reggiano stamping along with the serial number, which uniquely identifies the dairy of production, and the month and year in which the wheel was created.
The oval shape stamping tells us that the wheel has been aged for a minimum of 12 months, has been carefully screened by the Consortium's beaters and has passed all the tests, proving that it is worthy of the name Parmigiano Reggiano.
The casein mark affixed to the flat of the wheel even contains a unique alphanumeric code that allows us to trace that wheel back to the precise day of production and the boiler used to produce it.
But there are other, more hidden and special signs that tell us other and new stories about where that cheese wheel came from.
June 29 in Italy is the feast day of St. Peter, one of the most important saints of the Catholic faith: believed to be the founder of the Church, he is often portrayed with a bunch of keys in his hand, a symbol of the gates of heaven of which he would be the guardian.
Especially in rural areas this is still a very heartfelt celebration: children on the night of June 28-29 stay awake to watch the magic of St. Peter's boat, a transparent sailboat of albumen that forms in the water only on this special night; and those seeking impossible answers always on June 29 can rely on the ritual of the key, reciting a special chant and watching the oscillations of an iron key.
The Latteria Sociale Gonfo, in the province of Mantua, a dairy that has been in existence since the 1920s, has its own tradition linked to this anniversary.
On the cheeses produced on St. Peter's Day, June 29, a secret sign appears: for good luck, the cheesemaker inserts a key into the fascera, a symbol of the power and responsibility of the patron saint. The key is then removed along with the fascera, but just like the dotting, the mark imprinted in the mold by the key will remain and mature along with the cheese, accompanying it on the rind throughout its life.
So if you should find on your plate a piece of Parmigiano Reggiano with a key mark stamped into the rind, you will know for sure that that wheel was produced in Mantua by the Latteria Sociale Gonfo on St. Peter's Day, June 29.
