Parmigiano Reggiano Puffs are the fancy-ish snack you need this holiday | Canada Voices

Canadians love their cheese, and Parmigiano Reggiano has seen a particular surge in popularity. The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium announced record sales for 2024, with a 13.7-per-cent increase in international exports. Canada was one of its most enthusiastic markets, with an increase of 24.5 per cent in imports. And in the first quarter of 2025, Canadian imports increased by 64 per cent compared with the same period the year before.

With a Protected Designation of Origin, or PDO, status, Parmigiano Reggiano is produced exclusively in the Italian provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and Bologna on the left bank of the Reno river, and Mantua on the right bank of the Po, with milk from local cattle raised on the forage of their terroir. The cheese is still made with the same methods used a thousand years ago, with fresh milk from the morning and the previous evening slowly coagulating in traditional bell-shaped copper vats with rennet and a whey starter rich in bacterial culture, saved from the previous day.

It takes about 550 litres of milk to produce one wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano, and after being shaped and immersed in a salt brine, the minimum maturation time is 12 months – the longest of all PDO cheeses – after which some continue to age for 24, 36 or even 40 months. This year, a 27-year-old wheel was cracked open. Made by Romano and Silvia Camorani in 1998 in Poviglio, just outside Parma, it beat the previous record for oldest Parmigiano Reggiano by six years.

During the week between Christmas Day and the new year, I don’t cook so much as assemble – repurposing leftovers, grazing my way through fruitcake (which, thinly sliced and toasted, is delicious with cheese) and other party food. But there are still occasions that call for fancy-ish snacks.

Parmigiano Reggiano requires little in the way of preparation: Break it into chunks and drizzle with honey and chili crisp or truffle oil, stuff a wedge into a pitted date, or grate and mix with an egg white, roll into balls and cook in hot oil for crispy golden bites you can eat on their own or drizzle with honey, balsamic reduction or chili crisp.

Parmigiano Reggiano Puffs

Like so many simple recipes, this is all about ratios – to dial up quantities, just stick to a ratio of 1 egg white to 100 grams Parmigiano Reggiano. After making these, the cheesy oil is delicious for cooking or baking anything with complementary flavours – starting a soup or stew, for example, or in savoury waffle batter.

• 1 large egg white
• 100 g finely, freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• Canola or other neutral vegetable oil, for cooking
• Balsamic reduction, honey or hot honey, chili crisp, truffle oil, pomegranate seeds, chopped pistachios or anything you can think of to drizzle or sprinkle overtop (optional)

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg white until it’s foamy. Add the Parmigiano Reggiano and stir until the mixture is well combined. Roll into balls about the size of a large marble.

In a small pot, heat about an inch of oil – enough for the balls to submerge, so they don’t stick to the bottom – to about 350 F, or until a scrap of bread sizzles when you dip it in. Gently drop the cheese balls into the oil, without crowding.

Hold a metal slotted spoon in the oil for about 10 seconds to heat it up so the cheese doesn’t stick, and use it to gently roll the balls around in the oil until they are golden all over. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Serve right away, if possible, as-is or drizzled with honey and/or truffle oil, chili crisp, hot honey, balsamic reduction or anything else you think would be delicious with Parmigiano Reggiano.

Makes seven to eight puffs per 100 g cheese and 1 egg white.